https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/federal-appeals-court-strikes-down-law-barring-gun-sales-people-n1273884
POLITICS NEWS
Federal appeals court strikes down law barring gun sales to people under 21
The court found that the law, passed in 1968, was unconstitutional. The ruling applies only in five states.
-
-
*
-
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca4/19-2250/19-2250-2021-07-13.html
Hirschfeld v. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco & Explosives, No. 19-2250 (4th Cir. 2021)
Justia Opinion Summary
The Fourth Circuit vacated the district court's grant of the motion to dismiss plaintiffs' action seeking an injunction and a declaratory judgment that several federal laws and regulations that prevent federally licensed gun dealers from selling handguns to any 18, 19, or 20-year-olds violate the Second Amendment.
The court rejected the government and amici's argument that the challenged laws fall into two categories on the presumptively valid list in Dist. of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 592–95, 628 (2008): conditions on commercial sales and longstanding regulations.
The court found that 18-year-olds possess Second Amendment rights, concluding that the Constitution's text, structure, and history make clear that 18 to 20-year-olds were understood to fall under the Second Amendment's protections.
The court explained that those over 18 were universally required to be part of the militia near the ratification, proving that they were considered part of "the people" who enjoyed Second Amendment rights and that most other constitutional rights apply to this age group.
The court also concluded that the laws do not pass intermediate scrutiny.
The court acknowledged that the government's interest in preventing crime, enhancing public safety, and reducing gun violence are not only substantial but compelling. However, the court explained that to justify this restriction, Congress used disproportionate crime rates to craft over-inclusive laws that restrict the rights of overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens. And in doing so, Congress focused on purchases from licensed dealers without establishing those dealers as the source of the guns 18 to 20-year-olds use to commit crimes.
The court reasoned that Congress may not restrict the rights of an entire group of law-abiding adults because a minuscule portion of that group commits a disproportionate amount of gun violence.
The court stated that Congress's failure to connect handgun purchases from licensed dealers to youth gun violence only serves to highlight the law's unduly tenuous fit with the government's substantial interests.
Therefore, 18 to 20-year-olds have Second Amendment rights and the challenged laws impermissibly burden such rights.
The court reversed the district court's denial of summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings.
''link to 140 page PDF''
MLB
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/562991-mlb-all-star-game-whiffs-earns-lowest-ratings-in-history-heres-why
MLB All-Star Game whiffs, earns lowest ratings in history: Here's why
BY JOE CONCHA, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 07/14/21 01:47 PM EDT
Major League Baseball's All-Star Game was once "appointment viewing" in this country.
-
In 1980, more than 36 million people tuned in.
-
In 2015, in the age of interleague play, a still-respectable 11 million watched the American and National Leagues battle it out.
-
But in 2021 and again for Tuesday night's game, the Nielsen numbers are profoundly horrible:
Preliminary numbers are tracking to fewer than eight million people tuning in, easily the least-watched All-Star Game in history.
This number is stunning when considering what was billed as one of the most compelling lineups in years, one that included Los Angeles Angels' Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani, who was the first player in All-Star Game history to be a starting pitcher and bat lead-off, and the game's first two-way starter dating back to 1933.
>- In 1980, more than 36 million people tuned in.
United States Population
328.2 million (2019)
226.5 million (1980)
https://www.rollcall.com/2021/07/13/appeals-court-finds-aged-based-handgun-purchase-ban-unconstitutional/
''In a 2-1 ruling,'' a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., found that the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms is no different from other constitutional rights that start at age 18, so the government must have a justification to restrict that right.
“Despite the weighty interest in reducing crime and violence, we refuse to relegate either the Second Amendment or 18- to 20-year-olds to a second-class status,” Judge Julius Richardson wrote for the majority.
Richardson, a President Donald Trump appointee, was joined in the majority opinion by Judge G. Stephen Agee, a President George W. Bush appointee.
[Character Alert]
''Judge James Wynn Jr., a President Barack Obama appointee, wrote a dissent that said the panel had overstepped its role as a court, and that “the majority’s decision to grant the gun lobby a victory in a fight it lost on Capitol Hill more than 50 years ago is not compelled by law.”''