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.
“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 opinion authored by Judge Edith Jones stated.
“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,’” added Jones, nominated to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan.
“We REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
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.
“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,” Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs said in a statement.
Brady: United Against Gun Violence, a nonprofit group that advocates for gun control, slammed the ruling, arguing that it would allow “teenagers” easier access to firearms.
“This dangerous decision will put more guns in the hands of teenagers — endangering lives,” the group wrote on X.
“We are ready to fight back.”
