US appeals court rules Minnesota handgun possession age restrictions unconstitutional News
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US appeals court rules Minnesota handgun possession age restrictions unconstitutional

The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Minnesota law requiring handgun carry permit applicants to be at least 21 years of age is unconstitutional. The appeals court upheld a lower court ruling from 2023 that struck down the age restriction after gun-rights advocacy organizations and three adults under 21 sued to challenge the law.

The unanimous three-judge panel reasoned that the exclusion of 18 to 20-year-olds from handgun possession was not “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” following the requirements of the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

Bruen requires courts weighing gun control measures to consider whether the prohibited activity is covered by the Second Amendment and consistent with US firearm regulation traditions.

Completing the first step of the Bruen test, the Eighth Circuit reasoned that the plaintiffs, as adult citizens, enjoy the right to bear arms under the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, rejecting Minnesota’s argument that the phrase “the people” in the amendment only includes those over 21.

Regarding US history, the court rejected the state’s argument that 18 to 20-year-olds were denied the right to bear arms under common law. The panel additionally diminished the importance of Reconstruction-era laws that Minnesota said demonstrated a tradition of regulating 18 to 20-year-olds’ use of firearms since these laws emerged around 100 years after the nation’s founding.

Other appeals courts have also shown a willingness to block age restrictions for gun possession. In February, the Eleventh Circuit reinstated a lawsuit brought by adults under 21 over a Georgia law denying them carry licenses. The Third Circuit blocked Pennsylvania laws that functionally prohibited young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from carrying firearms during a state of emergency in January.

The Eighth Circuit’s decision comes as courts across the country grapple with the implications of the Bruen decision and an increased clamor for gun control coming from liberal politicians. In June, the US Supreme Court upheld a federal law barring individuals with domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms, but the court also struck down a ban on bump stocks that same month. Another federal appeals court overruled an injunction blocking a California ammunition background check law in February after the state argued that a lower court misapplied Bruen in enjoining the law’s enforcement.

In light of the Eighth Circuit’s ruling, the state may petition for a full-court rehearing or appeal to the US Supreme Court.

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