In a landmark decision, US District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond, Virginia, has ruled it is unconstitutional for licensed federal firearms dealers to sell handguns to those aged between 18 and 20. The judge argued that young adults’ rights to bear arms are guaranteed under the Second Amendment. This ruling follows other court decisions that have struck down gun laws after a 2022 US Supreme Court decision changed the criteria to evaluate challenges to firearm restrictions. Since this landmark ruling, courts have declared unconstitutional laws preventing guns being held by domestic abusers, as well as a ban on possessing firearms with missing or removed serial numbers.
This recent decision comes during a heated gun control debate across America. The Biden administration has appealed against the previous court decision, which invalidated the nationwide ban on “bump stocks.” The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Ohio has ruled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had overstepped its authority when it prohibited the devices by labelling them machine gun parts in 2017. In January, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals also invalidated the ban. This decision is alarming as bump stocks permit semi-automatic weapons to shoot rounds at high speeds.
Furthermore, a US judge has ruled that the minimum age to get a gun permit in Minnesota is unconstitutional. US District Judge Katherine Menendez said the ban on 18- to 20-year-olds obtaining a permit violated the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees the right to bear arms. This decision will further embolden critics of gun control, and while several US states require residents to be at least 21 years of age to buy a handgun through a licensed dealer, such bans have been increasingly contested in court.
However, in contrast to these decisions, a Texas judge ruled the county can ban guns from its courthouse. Texas Carry founder Terry Holcomb challenged the county’s ban and sued the state attorney general, who then sued the county. In a five-page ruling, Waller County District Judge Albert McCaig agreed with Waller County and said that Texas law “prohibits all firearms and other weapons in the entire government building that houses a court.”
Likewise, Florida’s new ban on paid lobbying by elected officials has been temporarily suspended by US District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami. She ruled the amendment to the state constitution was too broad and poorly defined to comply with federal protections for free speech. Her injunction suspends enforcement of a portion of the amendment Florida voters approved in 2018, which bars officeholders from earning money in their private lives as lobbyists. While Bloom said a limited ban on lobbying the governments they serve could pass the constitutional test, a blanket restriction on lobbying for any officeholder is too sweeping. The judge let stand the portion of the constitutional amendment that imposes a six-year lobbying ban on former elected officials that only applies to the government where they served.
In conclusion, with varied court decisions across America, the gun control debate will continue in the United States. The recent events have further intensified the debate and opened the question of individual rights versus public safety. As America struggles to find a balance between the two, cases such as these will continue to shape the country’s future and the direction it takes on gun control.
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