TRENTON, N.J. — A Republican assemblywoman is openly challenging Attorney General Jennifer Davenport's warnings about a Trump administration plan to allow handguns through the mail, calling the state's top law enforcement official "full of soup" and her public statements "blatantly false."

Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-24th) posted a rebuttal on social media hours after Davenport's May 4 press release, which announced that the AG was leading a 22-state coalition opposing the proposed USPS handgun rule.

"The New Jersey OAG is full of soup," Fantasia wrote. "Her press release is blatantly false, and she is intentionally misleading the public."

Davenport, in a separate post on X, framed the Postal Service's proposal as dangerous and illegal, but did not name Fantasia or engage with her criticism.

The dispute centers on a proposed USPS rule, published April 2, that would expand the types of firearms mailable through the postal system to include handguns and other concealable weapons. The change follows a January 15 opinion from the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, which declared that a 1927 federal statute that has barred USPS from mailing concealable firearms for nearly a century is unconstitutional as applied to handguns.

Davenport's coalition, co-led with New York and Delaware, argues that the rule violates federal law and threatens public safety.

"The federal government's refusal to follow a century-old commonsense firearm safety law threatens the rule of law and public safety," Davenport said in her press release. "Turning the Postal Service into a tool to ship guns into our states, in violation of our laws, will make it more difficult to keep guns out of the hands of felons and other dangerous people."

On X, Davenport posted: "The Trump Administration is planning to allow people to mail guns [emphasis original] via the USPS for the first time. That's dangerous: It makes it easier for felons to get guns without background checks. And it's illegal, violating a 100-year-old law. Proud to lead AGs pushing back."

Fantasia, however, contends that Davenport's characterization is misleading. In a numbered list, the Assemblywoman argued that USPS has mailed long guns (rifles and shotguns) for decades, that interstate sales still require licensed dealers and background checks under federal law, and that private carriers like UPS and FedEx already ship firearms under the same regulatory framework.

"At the most basic level, the gun still has to go to a licensed dealer (FFL) in interstate sales. The buyer still goes through a background check," Fantasia wrote. "The proposed change to expand the types of firearms USPS may ship doesn't magically make prohibited buyers legal, nor does it erase federal firearms transfer laws."

A review of the proposed rule and existing law shows Fantasia's claims are partially accurate but omit key details of the proposed change.

It is true that USPS currently mails rifles and shotguns under narrow conditions, primarily for licensed firearms dealers. It is also true that the Gun Control Act of 1968 still requires interstate handgun sales to go through a federally licensed dealer with a background check.

However, Fantasia's characterization conflates existing long-gun mailing with the proposed expansion. The new rule would allow non-licensed individuals, not just dealers, to mail handguns across state lines to "another person," provided that the recipient is not a prohibited purchaser. Unlike private carriers, which require non-licensed individuals to ship firearms to licensed dealers, the USPS proposal contains no such requirement.

The 22-state coalition argues that this change creates an enforcement gap. USPS, as a federal agency, has no statutory obligation to verify compliance with state firearms laws, including New Jersey's strict requirements on who may possess guns and which weapons are prohibited.

"Unlike private carriers like UPS, USPS recognizes no statutory obligation to ensure the packages it carries comply with state laws on the acquisition or transfer of firearms, creating a loophole in state laws," the multistate letter states.

The coalition also notes that 79 percent of crime guns recovered in New Jersey are traced to out-of-state federal firearms licensees. Without trace data from postal shipments, law enforcement would face higher investigation costs and reduced effectiveness in solving gun crimes.

The 1927 statute at issue, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1715, has never been struck down by a federal court. In 2025, plaintiffs challenged it in Shreve v. USPS, a pending case in Pennsylvania federal court. New Jersey, New York, and Delaware intervened to defend the statute after the federal government declined to do so.

The DOJ's January opinion argues the Second Amendment requires USPS to treat firearms like other legal goods. The coalition counters that the Second Amendment does not compel the Postal Service to mail weapons, noting that for most of U.S. history, firearms were not accepted for mailing.

The comment period on the proposed rule closed on May 4. The USPS has not announced a timeline for finalizing the regulation.

The coalition joining Davenport includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

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