In a significant victory for gun rights advocates, a unanimous panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down Minnesota's age limit for gun-carry permits. The ruling, handed down on Tuesday, determined that categorically excluding 18-20-year-olds from the right to bear arms does not fit within the country's historical tradition of gun regulation, a key test for whether a law complies with Second Amendment protections.
Judge Duane Benton, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the decision that "Minnesota has not met its burden to proffer sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that 18 to 20-year-olds seeking to carry handguns in public for self-defense are protected by the right to keep and bear arms." He further stated that the law "violates the Second Amendment as applied to Minnesota through the Fourteenth Amendment, and, thus, is unconstitutional."
The ruling is a significant win for gun rights advocates who have been successful in overturning gun restrictions for adults under the age of 21 in recent years. It also marks the first federal appeals court opinion dealing with a Second Amendment question to be decided on the merits since the Supreme Court handed down its U. S. v. Rahimi decision last month.
In evaluating Minnesota's under-21 carry ban, the Eighth Circuit panel first determined that 18-20-year-olds seeking to carry a firearm in public for self-defense are covered under the plain text of the Second Amendment. Judge Benton wrote that "ordinary, law-abiding 18 to 20-year-old Minnesotans are unambiguously members of the people."
Minnesota argued that "status-based restrictions from the founding-era," including restrictions on Catholics, American Indians, slaves, and other disfavored minorities, offered a generalized analogue of governments barring groups deemed to be "dangerous" from accessing firearms. The state contended that 18-to-20-year-olds are uniquely dangerous relative to the rest of the population. However, Judge Benton dismissed the idea that modern lawmakers can disarm groups as a category based on perceived dangerousness because he said such a principle would "subjugate the right to bear arms in public for self-defense" to "a second-class right."
The ruling has been celebrated by gun rights groups, including the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC). Bryan Strawser, Chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, called the decision "a resounding victory for 18-20-year-old adults who wish to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms."
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's (D.) office did not respond to a request for comment. His office can either appeal the decision to an en banc panel at the Eighth Circuit or request relief from the Supreme Court.
The decision is a significant victory for gun rights advocates and a blow to gun control advocates who argue that age restrictions on gun ownership are necessary to prevent gun violence. The ruling is also a reminder of the importance of the Second Amendment and the need to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms for self-defense.
Sources:
thereload.comtheepochtimes.com