(Patriot.Buzz) – In a massive victory for Second Amendment rights, a federal appeals court has struck down the unconstitutional ban on handgun sales to young adults aged 18-20.
This ruling dismantles a decades-old violation of citizens’ rights and reaffirms that the Constitution applies to all adult Americans.
Specifically, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a monumental decision in Reese v. ATF, overturning the federal restriction on handgun sales to those aged 18 to 20.
The unanimous three-judge panel, all appointed by Republican presidents, found the provisions inconsistent with the Second Amendment, dealing a significant blow to gun control advocates and their agenda.
The appeals court’s decision was heavily influenced by the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which set a new standard for evaluating gun laws based on historical tradition.
In applying this standard, the Fifth Circuit found insufficient historical evidence to support age-based restrictions on firearm purchases at the time of the nation’s founding.
“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 court wrote.
“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,” the court added.
This ruling overturns a 2012 Fifth Circuit decision upholding the ban, which was first enacted in 1968 with the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.
The decision currently applies to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, the states within the 5th Circuit’s jurisdiction, but it sets a powerful precedent that could lead to nationwide changes.
The case was supported by pro-Second Amendment organizations, including the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and the Second Amendment Foundation.
These groups have long argued that the ban unfairly targets law-abiding young adults, denying them their constitutional rights.
“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,” said FPC president Brandon Combs.
The court’s decision exposes the flawed logic of gun control advocates who have long sought to restrict the rights of young adults.
The argument that “the people” in the Second Amendment did not include those under 21 was soundly rejected.
The court stated this reasoning was “incompatible with Second Amendment precedent, nonsensical when considered against the backdrop of American suffrage, and contradicted by the history of firearm use at the founding.”
This ruling is a significant step toward restoring all law-abiding American adults’ full Second Amendment rights.
It recognizes that 18-to-20-year-olds who can vote and serve in the military should not be denied their constitutional right to purchase and own handguns for self-defense and other lawful purposes.
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