Ban on 18 to 20 year old adults buying handguns overturned in 5th Circuit Court ruling in a major victory for gun rights.

 

Handguns at the NRA meeting in Dallas Texas. Reuters. 

A ban that stopped adults under the age of 21 from buying handguns has been ruled unconstitutional in the 5th Circuit Court. Reuters. The court had previously upheld the ban, but after NYSRPA v Bruen, the court followed the test set forth in that ruling and found that there was no historical case for a ban on adults owning handguns. The federal ban on handguns was included in a 1968 crime bill. The court found that the 2nd Amendment does include adults between the age of 18 to 20. 

My Comment:

Just a couple of days ago I criticized Donald Trump's ban on puberty blockers and surgery for transgender children because it bafflingly included 18 year old adults in the order. Though I supported the ban, I rejected the inclusion of 18 year old adults because they are indeed adults. As adults they should have the same rights to ruin their bodies as older adults, unless there is a total ban on these "treatments". 

I would support the same logic here. I always hated the idea that an 18 year old is old enough to carry a weapon in a war they were drafted into but aren't old enough to buy a handgun to defend their own home or drink a beer when they get home from the war. That's not the logic that was used in this case but it does have the same effect and one of the major limitations on under 21 adults is now gone. 

At least in the 5th Circuit of course. This ruling only covers that Circuit, which is made up of Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. In those states younger adults are now able to buy handguns. But in the rest of the country? The ban is still in effect. 

So will the rest of the country follow suit? I think it's possible. Either the other courts will agree with this ruling and the law will be largely overturned or the case will go to the Supreme Court and will likely reach the same conclusion as the 5th Circuit Court. That means that this ban on younger adults buying handguns is pretty much dead. 

Either way this shows how important NYSRPA v Bruen case was. We absolutely would not have had this ruling had the case never existed. Indeed, the same court reached the opposite ruling in 2012. But the Bruen test showed that the rule was unconstitutional and now it is gone for at least some of the folks in this country. 

It does seem like gun rights is a solved issue in America today. NYSRPA v Bruen is law of the land and the Democrats are the only folks that really support gun control laws. And they are absolutely on the backfoot right now. For the time being at least, I doubt we will see any national gun laws that infringe on the 2nd amendment. The states are another thing but even they are facing huge numbers of lawsuits to overturn those laws...