Appeals Court Rules Handgun Purchase Ban for Adults Under 21 is Unconstitutional
A federal appeals court has ruled that the longstanding ban preventing adults under the age of 21 from purchasing handguns from federally licensed firearms dealers is unconstitutional.
The decision was issued unanimously by a three-judge panel from the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, rejecting the Biden administration’s argument that the restriction aligns with the “nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” That argument was based on the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which established that modern gun laws must be consistent with historical firearm regulations.
“Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” wrote Judge Edith Jones in the court’s opinion.
Jones added, “The federal government has presented scant evidence that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds’ firearm rights during the founding-era were restricted in a similar manner to the contemporary federal handgun purchase ban, and its 19th century evidence ‘cannot provide much insight into the meaning of the Second Amendment when it contradicts earlier evidence.’”
The ruling reverses a district court’s decision and remands the case for further proceedings.
The ban on adults 18, 19, and 20 purchasing handguns from federally licensed firearms dealers dates back to the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. According to a report by the New York Post, the Justice Department under the Biden administration had defended the ban in a case brought by a group of 18-20-year-olds seeking to overturn a Louisiana federal judge’s previous ruling that upheld the law.
The Firearms Policy Coalition, which assisted the plaintiffs in the case, praised the court’s decision.
“Today’s ruling is yet another critical FPC win against an immoral and unconstitutional age-based gun ban. We look forward to restoring the Second Amendment rights of all peaceable adults throughout the United States,” said FPC President Brandon Combs in a statement.
