Are you still blackpilling? Because since Trump installed new management at DOJ and ATF, we’ve seen an almost unbroken string of wins and sensible actions that positively effect the gun rights of every law-abiding American. The zero tolerance policy is dead. Harmeet Dhillon established a Second Amendment section of her Civil Rights division. The $200 NFA transfer tax has been zeroed out. Patrick Adamiak has been freed. And there’s lots more.
The latest move just came today as the Main Justice office of legal counsel has issued a memorandum opinion stating that federal law that prohibits handgun sales as applied to adults aged 18 to 20 years old is unconstitutional.
Section 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) of title 18, U.S. Code, is unconstitutional as applied to young adults between eighteen and twenty who seek to purchase handguns. The provision prevents young adults, who are members of “the people” to whom the Second Amendment applies, from owning “arms” in common use for self-defense. This places the burden on the government to show that the restrictions are consistent with the Nation’s tradition of firearm regulation, which it cannot do.
You can read the 49-page opinion here.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 banned sales of handguns (and hangun ammo) to adults under 21 years of age. The office of legal counsel’s opinion states that the law “may not be enforced to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to a class of law-abiding adults who, in nearly every other relevant respect, are members of the political community.”
The opinion is based on the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling (the gift that keeps on giving) and makes the eminently reasonable judgement that adults aged 18 to 20 are, in fact, part of “the People” in terms of the Second Amendment and handguns are arms protected by the same civil right.
The DOJ’s opinion here agrees with that of the Fifth Circuit ruling last year that declared the adult age restrictions unconstitutional.
While this is a win, the law remains on the books. Congress hasn’t acted (as if) and a DOJ opinion isn’t a Supreme Court ruling. And there’s nothing to stop individual states from outlawing sales to young adults. The courts have been divided on the subject and with the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Reese on the books, this would seem ripe for SCOTUS review. At some point. Stay tuned.