An appeals court found that a federal preventing gun stores from selling handguns to people between 18 and 20 years old was unconstitutional.
“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 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 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled on Thursday.
“We REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the appeals court added.
The ruling said a “well-regulated militia” covered in the Second Amendment applies to these age groups.
“The history of firearm use, particularly in connection with militia service, contradicts the premise that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds are not covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment,” the ruling said.
The appeals court said for the government to satisfy the “burden” of proving people between 18 and 20 years old could not purchase handguns, it needed to “overcome” the evidence that this age group also enjoyed the same Second Amendment rights as 21-year-olds during the nation’s founding.
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) celebrated the decision after it came out.
“We’re delighted the Fifth Circuit took this action,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “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,” he added.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
