Posts Tagged ‘minimum age’

Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld federal laws and regulations that prohibit federally licensed dealers from selling handguns to individuals who are younger than 21. The Fifth Circuit explained that laws restricting teenagers and young adults from accessing firearms are consistent with a variety of longstanding gun safety regulations, including regulations that were in place at the time of nation’s founding. The court also cited statistics showing that gun crimes are most often committed with handguns and findings revealing that laws restricting access to handguns among individuals who are younger than 21 are associated with less crime.

To find out more about this case, Nat’l Rifle Ass’n v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives, visit our Second Amendment resources.

You can also read about the NRA’s other attempts to weaken America’s gun laws in Extremism in Action – our spotlight on the gun lobby’s radical agenda.

Want more? Check out the other recent success stories.

WHAT HAPPENED?
Under Texas law, an individual must be 21-years-old in order to obtain a permit to legally carry a concealed handgun outside of the home.  Several individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 who wanted to carry concealed weapons in Texas filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the age restriction violated the Second Amendment in Jennings v. McCraw.

HOW SAFETY WINS
A judge in Texas upheld the challenged law.  He found that the Second Amendment is limited to allowing an individual to keep a firearm at home for the purpose of self-defense, and therefore, that the Second Amendment does not guarantee a right to carry a firearm outside of the home, regardless of one’s age.  Thus, the judge did not need to consider the appropriateness of the age restriction.  The ruling is particularly significant for its strong, definitive language finding that the Second Amendment does not extend outside of the home.