Federal Judge in Virginia Strikes Ban on Handgun Sales to Young Adults

U.S.A. — Declaring the “purchasing of handguns by individuals between the ages of 18 to 20 years is covered by the Second Amendment,” a federal judge in Virginia struck down a law prohibiting the sale of handguns to young adults in a case known as Fraser v. BATF.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne, a George H.W. Bush appointee, said on Page 39 of his 71-page ruling, “If the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year-olds from the Second Amendment’s protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees. It is firmly established that the rights enshrined in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments vest before the age of 21.”

The ruling brought an alarmed response from Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals for Everytown Law, according to Fox News. She said guns “are the leading cause of death for U.S. kids” and she pointed to research showing that 18-20-year-olds “commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older.”

“The Court’s ruling will undoubtedly put lives at risk,” Carter argued. “It must be reversed.”

The Transcontinental Times said Everytown also stated, “It’s the latest evidence of the gun lobby’s bigger strategy to see how far radical justices will let them push the Bruen decision.”

Judge Payne sees it differently, noting, “It is beyond question that the depravation of a right conferred by the Constitution is an injury in fact. So, if, as they allege, the Plaintiffs have a right under the Second Amendment to buy handguns, and if the challenged laws and regulations infringe that right, they are injured.”

Later, Judge Payne observes, “(T)he court finds that the right to purchase a gun falls within the Second Amendment’s plain text.”

The plaintiffs in this case are John Corey Fraser, Joshua Clay McCoy, Tyler Dalton McGrath and Ian Fletcher Shackley, all within the prohibited age range, and all who wish to buy handguns. The action was originally filed in 2022.

According to Reuters, the ruling will not take effect until Judge Payne issues his final order “in the coming weeks.” It also would not affect 19 states which have their own gun control laws preventing handgun sales to persons under age 21, the story added.

Still, Judge Payne’s ruling has created quite a stir in the media. MyNorthwest carried an Associated Press report about the decision in which it said, “Payne’s ruling is the latest decision striking down gun laws in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year that changed the test courts have long used to evaluate challenges to firearm restrictions. The Supreme Court said judges should no longer consider whether the law serves public interests, like enhancing public safety. Governments that want to uphold a gun restriction must look back into history to show it is consistent with the country’s ‘historical tradition of firearm regulation,’ the Supreme Court said.”

The Bruen ruling upended the “two step” process created by lower federal courts following the Heller and McDonald rulings of more than a decade ago. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in Bruen that the two-step approach went “one step too far.”

Gun rights advocates have long contended young adults should be afforded full Second Amendment protections because it is considered they’ve reached the “age of majority,” which allows them to vote, get married, join the military, start businesses, and even run for public office in some cases.

This isn’t the first federal court ruling in the aftermath of the Bruen decision to cause shockwaves throughout the gun prohibition community. As noted by Fox News, “Since the Bruen decision, courts have declared unconstitutional laws including federal measures designed to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and defendants under felony indictment, as well as a ban on possessing guns with the serial number removed. A federal judge recently cited the high court decision in ruling against a Minnesota law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from getting permits to carry handguns in public. A judge struck down a similar law last year on gun restrictions for young adults in Texas.”

Quoted by News Nation, plaintiffs’ attorney Elliott Harding said he expects the defendants to appeal the ruling. But it does show the Bruen ruling to be having a far greater impact than gun control proponents ever anticipated.

About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.