WASHINGTON: A federal judge in Virginia has struck down federal laws that block the sale of handguns to buyers under the age of 21, ruling that they violate constitutional rights to possess firearms.
The ruling, which the Justice Department is expected to challenge, will not take effect until Judge Robert Payne of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issues his final order in the coming weeks.
The ruling wouldn’t affect the 19 US states that have their own laws barring handgun sales to anyone younger than 21.
Payne’s ruling follows the Supreme Court’s important expansion of gun rights in the previous year, which the judge frequently referenced in his ruling issued on Wednesday.
Payne wrote in his decision, “Because the statutes and regulations in question aren’t consistent with our nation’s history and tradition, they, therefore, can’t stand.”
Elliott Harding, the attorney for the four original plaintiffs who were ages 18 to 20 and wanted to purchase handguns, said he was pleased with the decision.
Harding said, “Even though it ensures future buyers can now purchase these firearms in the federal system, one that includes background checks and other requirements, we expect the Defendants would appeal,” we remain optimistic that the decision would be affirmed in due course.”
Gun rights, held dear by several Americans and promised by the country’s 18th Century founders, are a contentious problem in a nation with high levels of firearm violence, including many mass shootings.
There have been at least 210 so far in 2023, at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.
