FEDERAL Ban On Handgun Sales To 18 Year Olds UNCONSTITUTIONAL~ VIDEO

The Second Amendment Foundation has scored an important victory in its challenge of a federal prohibition on handgun sales to young adults. A three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled to reverse a lower court decision and remand the case for further action.

SAF is joined in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Louisiana Shooting Association and two private citizens, Emily Naquin and Caleb Reese, for whom the case is named. The case is known as Reese v. ATF.

Reese v. ATF Case Background

In the case of Reese v. ATF, the plaintiffs, including Caleb Reese, the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Louisiana Shooting Association, along with an individual named Emily Naquin, filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), its Director, and the Acting U.S. Attorney General. This legal challenge was filed in the Western District of Louisiana and has reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Legal Issue

The core issue at stake is the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1), federal statutes that prohibit Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) from selling handguns to individuals aged between eighteen and twenty. This legal provision has been challenged as infringing on the Second Amendment rights of young adults to bear arms and on their equal protection under the law, as protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

District Court Proceedings

Initially, the district court found that the plaintiffs had standing to sue but dismissed the case under Rule 12(b)(6) for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court’s analysis was guided by the Supreme Court’s framework in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, which involves a two-pronged approach: firstly, determining if the conduct in question is protected by the Second Amendment, and secondly, if the statute is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

Appeal and Court of Appeals Considerations

Upon appeal, the Fifth Circuit Court scrutinized the historical evidence regarding the regulation of firearms among eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds at the time of the nation’s founding. The appeal court found prior judicial interpretations, like the NRA I decision, which upheld similar age-based restrictions, incompatible with recent Supreme Court decisions that emphasize a historical understanding of gun rights, such as Bruen and Rahimi.

Legal Arguments and Outcomes

The plaintiffs argue that the federal laws unconstitutionally restrict their right to keep and bear arms based on their age, thereby denying them equal protection under the law. They seek a judicial declaration that these provisions are unconstitutional and an injunction preventing the enforcement of these restrictions against eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds. The appellate court, considering recent Supreme Court rulings, reversed the lower court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its findings.

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Writing for the court, Circuit Judge Edith Hollan Jones, a Ronald Reagan appointee, stated,

“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 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. We REVERSE the district court’s judgment and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Joining Judge Jones are Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, and Circuit Judge Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale, a George H.W. Bush appointee. Their decision relies on guidelines set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2022 Bruen ruling.

“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.”

“Today the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed what prior courts and common sense tell us: ‘that the right to keep and bear arms surely implies the ability to purchase them,’” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Adults 18-20 years old are indisputably part of the People, whose rights under the Constitution are no less than their father’s or their grandfather’s.”

Second Amendment Foundation

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.