GIFFORDS urges SCOTUS to take up federal minimum age for handguns

WASHINGTON — Today, GIFFORDS Law Center, the legal arm of the national gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS, filed an amicus brief calling on the United States Supreme Court to take up McCoy v. ATF and affirm the Fourth Circuit by upholding the federal law setting the minimum age to buy a handgun at 21. The brief, filed by Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, can be found here. 

Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit struck down the longstanding law. The Trump administration made the startling decision not to seek Supreme Court review. There is now a circuit split on the constitutionality of an important federal gun safety law, which is why GIFFORDS Law Center is urging the Supreme Court to take up the case. Until they do, communities across Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana are at greater risk of violence under the current administration. 

“Research shows that young people and guns are not a good mix. Guns are the leading cause of death for kids and young people. Young people only make up four percent of the population, but are responsible for 17% of gun homicides and there have been sharp increases in death by gun suicide among young people. There is a historical tradition upon which to uphold the federal law prohibiting people younger than 21 years old from having handguns. This is a commonsense law that for decades has helped keep guns out of the hands of young people who should not have access to them. The status quo is already resulting in too many gun deaths; walking it back would only do greater harm,” saidGIFFORDS Law Center Litigation Director Esther Sanchez-Gomez.