A unanimous three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday held that the federal government’s longstanding handgun ban for adults aged 18 to 20 years old violates the Second Amendment.
The ruling came in the case of Reese v. ATF, which saw several adults aged at least 18 but under 21 challenge the age threshold requirements for the purchase of handguns under the Gun Control Act of 1968.
While some states had adopted a "21 and over" limit during the 1800s-- before the federal government-- the court found that the arbitrary age prerequisite didn't hold water when compared to firearms rights guaranteed under the Constitution, and, indeed, colonial laws recognized adults 18 and over as members of the militia predating Independence.
"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," U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote for the panel. "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...In sum, 18 U.S.C. §§ 992(b)(1), (c)(1) and their attendant regulations are unconstitutional in light of our Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation."
Jones is a 1985 appointment to the federal bench by President Reagan while the other judges on the panel, Rhesa Barksdale and Jennifer Walker Elrod, were appointed by Presidents Bush in 1990 and 2007, respectively.
The ruling is similar to one held by the Virginia-based U.S. Fourth Circuit in July 2021 that was later withdrawn.
A host of pro-gun groups including the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Louisiana Shooting Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation backed the case.
"We’re delighted the Fifth Circuit took this action,” Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and executive vice president, told Guns.com via email. "We have always maintained that young adults, who can vote, join the military, get married, enter into contracts and even run for office can also enjoy the full rights of citizenship which includes rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. If we can trust young adults to defend our country, we can certainly trust them to own any and all legal firearms."
The Fifth Circuit only covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, so it remains to be seen how the ruling, should it stand, will affect federal gun policy nationwide. It should be noted that the Department of Justice is currently in a state of flux, with a Senate confirmation vote on President Trump's nomination for U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, looming.
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