Skip to Main Content

4th Circuit Panel Issues 2-1 Outlier Ruling Overturning Decades-Long Prohibition on Minors Purchasing Handguns

Washington, DC — Today, Giffords Law Center, the gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement condemning the ruling issued yesterday by a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit, which voted 2-1 to overturn a law restricting handgun sales from licensed dealers to individuals 21 years of age and older.

Giffords Chief Counsel and Policy Director Adam Skaggs:

“A politically driven Trump-appointed judge ruled that it’s unconstitutional to limit handgun sales to those at least 21 years old, overturning a repeatedly upheld law that’s been on the books for more than a half century. Nothing in the Constitution requires letting people too young to buy a beer or rent a car purchase deadly weapons without restriction. 

“This decision epitomizes a worrying trend of Trump-appointed judges eschewing past precedent in favor of decisions favorable to the gun lobby’s extremist agenda. The author of yesterday’s opinion, Trump’s first appointee to the 4th Circuit, embodies what the GOP claims to abhor: judicial activism and an eagerness to legislate from the bench to advance their political agenda.

“This ruling must not stand, and the full 4th Circuit should reverse this reckless decision.”

A robust body of academic literature shows that the human brain continues to develop well past the age of 21, particularly in areas that may alter a person’s likelihood of involvement in violence against themselves or others. 18-20-year olds comprise just 4% of the US population, but account for 17% of known homicide offenders. 

Moreover, because impulse regulation and emotional control continues to develop into the mid-20s, young people, including adolescents and people under age 21, are at elevated risk of attempting suicide. Research has found that laws that prohibit unsupervised possession or purchase of firearms by children and young people can reduce harm among people under age 21. One study found that state laws raising the minimum legal age to purchase firearms to 21 years were associated with a 9% decline in rates of firearm suicides among 18-to-20-year-olds. 

A report published by Giffords Law Center last summer, Gun Safety Under Threat: How Extremist Judges Are Undermining Gun Laws, examines how a small number of judges can wield an outsized influence. Through opinions reversed on appeal and dissenting opinions, extremist judges on the lower courts can create the building blocks the Supreme Court needs to reshape Second Amendment law. These extremist judges, many of whom were appointed by President Trump, are throwing established legal precedent and the progress of the gun safety movement into jeopardy, threatening the safety of all Americans.