Virginia judge scraps federal age limit for handgun buyers

The Virginia case was brought by Mr. Fraser, who was 20 when he was dismissed after attempting to purchase a Glock handgun from a federally licensed dealer last year. He then challenged the federal gun control law of 1968 and age restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is responsible for enforcing the country’s gun laws.

Already, 18-year-olds are allowed to purchase long guns, including shotguns and semi-automatic rifles, from about 70,000 federally licensed dealers. They are prohibited from purchasing handguns, the most common weapons used in crimes, through such vendors, but federal law allows them to legally purchase from private, unauthorized dealers.

The decision would ease the path for 18-year-olds to purchase handguns.

“It is important that people understand that we are not talking about selling guns to minors,” said Mr Harding. “It is about closing a loophole. Eighteen-year-olds can legally buy a Glock in the parking lot of a gun shop. This is about walking them through the front door and going through the same background checks they would if they bought a shotgun.

Lawrence G. Keane, the general counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry association for the gun industry, praised the decision, saying: “The case ties in with a growing body of case law that Bruen applies that states age discrimination laws infringe on the second amendment. rights of young adults.”

Still, the Supreme Court decision identified some boundaries. In a concurring opinion, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., wrote that some gun control laws that use objective licensing criteria may still be considered constitutional.

States, Judge Kavanaugh wrote, were generally free to require “fingerprints, a background check, a mental health check, and training in firearm handling and in laws pertaining to the use of force.”