2A Victory: Judge Rules Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to 18- to 20-Year-Olds Unconstitutional

[libertybele]

2A Victory: Judge Rules Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to 18- to 20-Year-Olds Unconstitutional

A federal judge on Friday struck down the Biden administration’s effort to ban adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from buying handguns.

Judge Thomas Kleeh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump and Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, ruled in the case of Steven Robert Brown and Benjamin Weekley, who were banned from buying guns under the administration’s edict, according to Breitbart.

The ruling said that “Plaintiffs’ conduct — the purchase of handguns — ‘fall [within] the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command’ and the challenged statutes and regulations are not ‘consistent with the Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation,’” and that a rule barring Brown and Weekley from buying handguns was “facially unconstitutional and as applied to Plaintiffs.”

The decision relied heavily on the standard set by the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. vs. Bruen that required any gun control law to have its roots in the historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Kleeh noted that under Bruen, ‘‘To justify its regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest.”

He added that ‘‘the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command.’”................

https://www.westernjournal.com/2a-victory-judge-rules-federal-ban-handgun-sales-18-20-year-olds-unconstitutional/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=WJBreaking&utm_campaign=breaking&utm_content=western-journal

[mountaineer]

I just heard about this myself.

FED. JUDGE STRIKES HANDGUN SALES BAN FOR 18-20 YR. OLDS IN W.VA CASE
A federal district court judge in West Virginia has ruled that a federal law prohibiting handgun sales to 18-20-year-olds is “facially unconstitutional,” and granted a summary judgment in a case brought by the Second Amendment Foundation.

In a 40-page decision, U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas S. Kleeh with the Northern District of West Virginia wrote, “(B)ecause Plaintiffs’ conduct – the purchase of handguns – ‘fall(s) [within] the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command’ and the challenged statutes and regulations are not ‘consistent with the Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation,’ the Court FINDS 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) facially unconstitutional and as applied to Plaintiffs.”

He enjoined the defendants—in this case the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, ATF Director Steven Dettelbach and Attorney General Merrick Garland—from enforcing the provisions “against Plaintiffs and otherwise-qualified 18-to-20-year-olds.”

“This is a huge victory for Second Amendment rights, especially for young adults,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “The Biden Justice Department argued that people in this age group were not adults, which was patently ludicrous. The government simply could not defend the constitutionality of the handgun prohibition, and Judge Kleeh’s ruling makes that clear.” ...

Second Amendment Foundation

I'm pleased to see one of the victorious attorneys was someone with whom I'm familiar. John H. Bryan of Union, W.Va., is very successful at suing law enforcement entities that overstep their lawful authority, like when they use excessive force or do warrantless searches. Here's a link to his blog, which I believe I've quoted a time or two here at TBR: https://thecivilrightslawyer.com

[mountaineer]

A West Virginia federal judge has struck down the law banning 18-20-year-olds from buying handguns from gun dealers, saying it violates the Second Amendment.

https://twitter.com/gunpolicy/status/1730708101983035804

[Wingnut]

Where is the next stop  Biden will not this threat to democracy go unchallenged.  Appeal appeal the ignore.

[Sighlass]

It is kinda silly anyhoo, all my boys had guns at 12 to 14 y/o (depended on their maturity level)... Yeah, I had to buy them, but I could gift them to the kids.

[DCPatriot]

2A Victory: Judge Rules Federal Ban on Handgun Sales to 18- to 20-Year-Olds Unconstitutional

A federal judge on Friday struck down the Biden administration’s effort to ban adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from buying handguns.

Judge Thomas Kleeh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump and Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, ruled in the case of Steven Robert Brown and Benjamin Weekley, who were banned from buying guns under the administration’s edict, according to Breitbart.

The ruling said that “Plaintiffs’ conduct — the purchase of handguns — ‘fall{s} [within] the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command’ and the challenged statutes and regulations are not ‘consistent with the Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation,’” and that a rule barring Brown and Weekley from buying handguns was “facially unconstitutional and as applied to Plaintiffs.”

The decision relied heavily on the standard set by the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. vs. Bruen that required any gun control law to have its roots in the historical tradition of firearms regulation.

Kleeh noted that under Bruen, ‘‘To justify its regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest.”

He added that ‘‘the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historic tradition of firearm regulation. Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command.’”................

https://www.westernjournal.com/2a-victory-judge-rules-federal-ban-handgun-sales-18-20-year-olds-unconstitutional/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=WJBreaking&utm_campaign=breaking&utm_content=western-journal

...

[Smokin Joe]

We were hunting (Deer, ducks, squirrels, and doves) at the ripe old age of 9.

If you were not by then, in our peer group, you were considered to be somehow in the shortbus group or just not safe to be around. We'd all been schooled in proper firearms handling, and a lapse in that discipline could get you a year off from hunting (and all the stigma that went with that), so that just. did. not. happen.

[mountaineer]

We're talking West Virginia here. There certainly are quite a few under-10 boys in the woods toting long guns, and always have been. School districts don't even bother to hold classes the first week of deer gun season.
 Of course, the ruling is about handguns.