A federal judge in West Virginia handed young adults (along with the Second Amendment Foundation and West Virginia Citizens Defense League) a huge victory on Friday, granting summary judgment and declaring the federal prohibition on commercial handgun sales to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional. In his decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas Kleeh flatly rejected the argument offered by the Department of Justice that the prohibition is okay because under-21s still have the right to possess a handgun under federal law, and can even lawfully obtain one from a parent… at least in theory.
Kleeh found that argument nonsensical, pointing out that the “Plaintiffs do not dispute that 18-to-20-year-olds who are law-abiding adults and not otherwise banned from firearm possession are not prohibited from possessing handguns.” Instead, the injury done to plaintiffs Steven Robert Brown and Benjamin Weekley “is that they cannot purchase handguns and handgun ammunition from FFLs as a result of the age-based ban.”
Defendants’ specific arguments are likewise unavailing. First, the suggestion Plaintiffs suffer no injury because a parent or guardian can simply purchase the…
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