A conservative US appeals court ruled on Thursday that a law banning the sale of handguns by federally licensed firearms dealers to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional.
Federal law prohibits Federal Firearms Licensees from selling handguns to persons between the ages of 18 to 21, although parents can buy them for their children or they can purchase them themselves in private sales or at gun shows.
While Americans under the age of 21 cannot currently purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, they can buy a rifle or shotgun.
In its ruling, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the law passed by Congress in 1968 banning handgun sales by licensed dealers to adults under the age of 21 violated the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.
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"The operative clause of the Second Amendment states that 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,'" a three-judge appeals court panel said.
"There are no age or maturity restrictions in the plain text of the Amendment, as there are in other constitutional provisions" such as the requirement that members of the US House of Representatives be at least 25 years old, they said.
"This suggests that the Second Amendment lacks a minimum age requirement," they said. "Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen- to twenty-year-old individuals among 'the people' whose right to keep and bear arms is protected."
The law was challenged by three nonprofit gun rights groups -- the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Louisiana Shooting Club -- along with several individuals between the ages of 18 and 21.
Everytown Law, a gun violence prevention organization, denounced the ruling, calling it "reckless and unfounded."
"The law that prohibits dealers from selling handguns to those under twenty-one is both constitutional and crucial for public safety," said Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at Everytown Law.
"Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens, and 18-to-20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 and over, according to FBI statistics," Carter said, adding she hopes the federal government will contest Thursday's decision.
The Supreme Court, in June of last year, upheld a federal law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing a firearm, reversing a ruling by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals which had said the restriction was unconstitutional.