Court Rules Ban on Handgun Sales to Those Under 21 Unconstitutional

A U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the federal law prohibiting adults under 21-years-old from purchasing a handgun is unconstitutional and violates the Second Amendment.

A panel of three judges made the ruling Tuesday in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, Just the News reports.

“Despite the weighty interest in reducing crime and violence, we refuse to relegate either the Second Amendment or 18-to-20-year-olds to a second-class status,” Judge Julius N. Richardson wrote in the majority opinion.

Restrictions put in place in 1968 limited firearms dealers from selling handguns to anyone under the age of 21, despite them being eligible to buy other guns.

“Looking through this historical lens to the text and structure of the Constitution reveals that 18-to-20-year-olds have Second Amendment rights,” Richardson continued. “Virtually every other constitutional right applies whatever the age. And the Second Amendment is no different.”

The ruling added that “the rights of more than 99% of a group cannot be restricted because a fraction of 1% commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime.”