Disarming Felons Act: New Federal Gun Ban Targets Serious Juvenile Offenses Committed at Age 15+

The aptly named "Disarming Felons Act" introduces a major change to federal gun law (Title 18, U.S. Code, Sections 922(d) and 922(g)). This legislation creates a brand-new class of federally prohibited persons: any adult who, when they were between the ages of 15 and 18, committed a juvenile offense that would have been a felony if an adult had committed it. If this bill passes, having a serious juvenile record from your mid-teens could permanently bar you from legally owning or buying a firearm, regardless of how long ago the offense occurred or how much you’ve turned your life around since.

The Permanent Penalty for Teen Mistakes

Currently, federal firearm prohibitions mostly focus on adult felony convictions, domestic violence, or certain mental health adjudications. This bill significantly expands that list by reaching back into a person’s juvenile history. The core change is that if you were 15, 16, or 17 and committed an act that a state court deemed serious enough to be a felony—say, aggravated assault or a serious theft—that record now triggers a lifetime federal gun ban. This affects two things: first, licensed firearm dealers (FFLs) cannot sell or transfer a gun to you (amending Section 922(d)); and second, you are prohibited from possessing any firearm at all (amending Section 922(g)).

The Real-World Enforcement Headache

For the average person, this raises a huge question: How does the government actually know about a juvenile offense committed decades ago? Juvenile records are often sealed or expunged in many states precisely to give young people a clean slate once they become adults. The bill is silent on the mechanism for accessing these records. This creates immediate problems for licensed gun dealers, who rely on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). If a state’s system doesn't make these old juvenile records available to NICS, dealers might sell a gun to someone who is now federally prohibited, potentially leading to legal trouble for both the buyer and the seller. Conversely, if the system does manage to access these records, many adults who legally purchased firearms years ago could suddenly wake up to find themselves in illegal possession of their property.

Who Bears the Cost of Compliance?

This change puts a significant burden on individuals who committed serious offenses as juveniles but have since reformed. They are now facing a permanent restriction on a constitutional right based on conduct that happened when they were minors. For an adult living in a rural area who relies on a firearm for self-defense or hunting, this is a major life change. Furthermore, the lack of clarity on record access means that the enforcement mechanism is vague. Federal authorities would need to establish clear, uniform standards for determining if a specific juvenile offense “would have been a felony if committed by an adult,” which is complicated since state felony definitions vary widely. This vagueness could lead to inconsistent application and potential legal challenges down the line, adding complexity and cost to the background check system that FFLs and buyers rely on every day.