Federal court says restrictions on handgun sales to people under 21 are unconstitutional

Washington — A federal appeals court said Tuesday that federal laws that bar the sale of handguns to young adults under the age of 21 are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

In a 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the court found that 18-year-olds possess the constitutional right to keep and bear arms and said the restrictions at issue in the legal battle amount to a "total ban" on buying a handgun from a licensed firearms dealer for those under the age of 21. "Looking through this historical lens to the text and structure of the Constitution reveals that 18- to 20-year-olds have Second Amendment rights. Virtually every other constitutional right applies whatever the age. And the Second Amendment is no different," the court said in its decision.