We shall see where this goes, but a federal court ruled that the ban on the sale of handguns to Americans under the age of 21 is illegal. For years, this was established law: Americans could own long guns at 18, but handguns at 21. It’s the first ruling on this subject in the post-Bruen era:
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that a decades-old ban on federally licensed firearms dealers selling handguns to people aged 18, 19 and 20 is unconstitutional.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-judge panel on the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals slammed the Biden administration’s attempt to argue that the handgun ban was in line with the “nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” — a test for gun laws set by the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.
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Congress established Federal Firearms License Dealers and banned them from selling handguns to adults under the age of 21 in 1968, as part of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.
The Biden Justice Department defended the ban in the case brought by a group of 18-20 year-olds with the assistance of the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation.
The plaintiffs brought the case to the 5th Circuit in an attempt to appeal a Louisiana federal judge’s ruling upholding the statute. (via NY Post)
Of course, gun control groups weren’t pleased. The ruling still must make its way up the chain to a potential Supreme Court case. We’ll see. It took forever for a case that placed the justifiable need provisions of ‘may issue’ carry permit states in the legal crosshairs of the high court. But, in principle, it’s a good day for civil rights.
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