(CN) — A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Thursday that a decades-old federal law banning handgun purchases by 18 to 20-year-olds violates the Second Amendment.
The ruling is an about-face from a prior ruling where the appeals court initially found the law constitutional in 2012. The three-judge panel attributed the switch up to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which held that gun restrictions must be consistent with the historical tradition of firearm regulation in the U.S.
“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,” U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote in the panel’s opinion.
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Rhesa Barksdale, a George H. W. Bush appointee, and Chief U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, joined Jones, a Ronald Reagan appointee, on the panel.
The panel also noted that the “well-regulated militia” deemed necessary by the Second Amendment covers 18 to 20-year-olds, who at some points in the nation’s history were required to serve and were therefore obliged to bear arms.
“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,” Jones wrote.
The ruling reverses a 2022 decision by a Louisiana federal judge finding the law constitutional. The case was brought by individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 who say they wish to purchase handguns as well as several gun rights organizations.
The Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
What happens next is unclear. The Fifth Circuit panel sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings in line with the ruling.
Dan Zelenka, president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, one of the plaintiff organizations in the case, told Courthouse News Service in an interview that the lower court might issue an injunction blocking the law entirely, or it might limit the scope to just prohibit enforcement against the individual plaintiffs and members of the plaintiff organizations — which also include the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Second Amendment Foundation.
“I’m not quite sure how it’ll come out,” Zelenka said. “We’re going to have to wait and see.”
The ruling is part of a larger legal battle over age limits for handgun purchases. The Fourth Circuit heard arguments Thursday in a similar case challenging the federal handgun age limit, and earlier this month Minnesota officials asked the Supreme Court to review an Eighth Circuit decision that struck down a similar state law.
The Second Amendment Foundation, another of the plaintiff organizations, celebrated Thursday’s ruling in a statement.
“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,” the foundation’s executive director, Adam Kraut, said. “If we can trust young adults to defend our country, we can certainly trust them to own any and all legal firearms.”