Smith & Wesson handguns are seen for sale in a gun store in Houston, Texas
A federal appeals court has ruled that a 1968 federal law banning young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from owning handguns is unconstitutional.
The ruling Thursday from the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that upheld the ban, according to the court decision.
The immediate nationwide impact of the ruling is unclear. The case is almost certainly bound for the Supreme Court, according to ABC.
The decision relied heavily on the standard set by the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Bruen that required any gun control law to have its roots in the historical tradition of firearms regulation.
“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,” the court ruled.
“To satisfy its burden that banning eighteen-to- twenty-year-olds from purchasing handguns is consistent with our Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, the government must overcome this clear and germane evidence that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds enjoyed the same Second Amendment rights as their twenty-one-year-old peers at the founding,” the ruling said.
“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 appellate court noted that the Supreme Court has previously ruled “that the Second Amendment ‘belongs to all Americans,'”
The ruling said that “contrary to the government’s recitation of concerns expressed in the colonial and founding eras about the ‘irresponsibility’ of those under twenty-one, these young individuals were expected to keep the peace rather than disturb it.”
In its interpretation of the Second Amendment, the court wrote, “while the core of the right is rooted in self-defense and unconnected with the militia, the text of the Amendment’s prefatory clause considered along with the overwhelming evidence of their militia service at the founding indicates that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds were indeed part of ‘the people’ for Second Amendment purposes.”
The court ruled that “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.”
Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, which was among those suing to overturn the law, praised the 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,” he said, according to Newsweek.
Adam Winkler, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, said the ruling might not change much for young adults seeking a handgun, according to The New York Times.
He noted that the ruling sends the case back to the district court, where judges must issue a new ruling.
“I expect the law will remain in effect for at least a short while,” he said. “It could be a long while.”
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