US ban on gun sales to adults under age 21 is unconstitutional, court rules

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - A decades-old U.S. government ban on federally licensed firearms dealers selling handguns to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional, a U.S. appeals court held on Thursday, citing recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings expanding gun rights.

The ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals marked the first time a federal appeals court has held that the prohibition violated the right to keep and bear arms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.

The appeals court had previously upheld that same ban in 2012. But that was before the 6-3 conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling in 2022 that established a new test for assessing modern firearms laws.

https://m.piqsuite.com/reuters/us-ban-on-gun-sales-to-adults-under-age-21-is-unconstitutional-court-rules-2025-01-30-20-29-13