Their commitment to quality and the Second Amendment makes them a perfect partner for this channel and their support allows me to get you the information that you need to advocate for the Second Amendment and that means a lot. Plus, their new mufflers come out July 1, very affordable, no frills, they just work. Check them out and, you know, they’re great people. Alright folks, we’ve got a major update out of the federal courts and it’s not good news for young adults. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals just upheld the federal ban on handgun sales to adults aged 18 to 20.

That’s right, adults. You can vote, pay taxes, join the military, but under federal law, you still can’t buy a handgun from a gun shop until you turn 21. The case here is McCoy versus ATF and the 4th Circuit says that it’s perfectly constitutional to violate these people’s rights. Let’s break down how they got there and why this ruling could set a dangerous precedent for the future of gun rights. Now the case, like I said, McCoy v. ATF centers around four law-abiding adults between the ages of 18 and 20. They tried to legally buy handguns from federally licensed dealers, not from private sellers, not off the street, but through the proper legal channels.

But they were denied. Why? Because of 18 U.S.C. Section 922B Bravo. It’s a federal law that makes it illegal for an FFL to sell a handgun to anyone under 21. Now these young adults took their case to court arguing that this violates their rights under the Second Amendment, plain and simple. And in the lower court, they actually won at the district court. The judge applied the Supreme Court’s Bruin standard and ruled that there was no historical tradition for banning handgun sales to people in this age group. But the Biden administration didn’t like the results, so they appealed.

And now the Fourth Circuit has reversed the ruling. Let’s pause for a second and remember what the Bruin decision said. The Supreme Court told us that when a firearm regulation is challenged, the government has to show that it’s consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. In other words, it’s not enough to say this law is for public safety or we think this makes sense today. If you can’t find a historical analog from the founding era or reconstruction, the law is unconstitutional, period. The district court did exactly that. It looked at the history and said, nope, there’s no long-standing tradition of keeping handguns out of the hands of 18 to 20 year olds.

In fact, the opposite is true. Men were expected to serve in the militia starting at 18 and they were required to be armed. Cases closed, right? Not so fast, says the Fourth Circuit. The appeals court agreed that the Second Amendment covers this conduct. That’s step one. But, there’s always a but. When it came to step two, they went off the rails. Instead of finding historical laws that directly banned 18 to 20 year olds from buying guns, the court relied on something called the infancy doctrine. Raise your hand if you’ve heard that one before.

It’s an old legal idea that said people under 21 were considered legal minors in many contexts. They were basically considered infants. They also dug up some 19th century state laws that imposed age limits on things like carrying concealed weapons or buying pistols. Not from the founding era, but from the late 1800s when they still claimed that was close enough. According to the court, those historical examples are analogous to the modern day federal ban. So, they ruled that the law stands. Just like that, one of the clearest violations of Bruin we’ve seen gets rubber stamped as constitutional.

This ruling creates a massive loophole that anti-gun lawmakers and courts will probably try to exploit. This essentially says we don’t need a direct historical match. We can rely on vague traditions and post-civil war laws to justify modern gun control. And if they can do that here, they can do it for any age group or any other category of people the government wants to restrict next. Remember, this law only applies to handgun purchases from licensed dealers. So, if you’re 18, you can’t go into a gun shop and buy a Glock, but you can legally own one if it’s gifted or purchased through a private sale in a free state.

Make that make sense for me. And yet, the court said this narrowness is a feature, not a bug, and said the law isn’t that burdensome because it’s not a total ban. Perhaps they haven’t heard of a right delayed as a right denied. How can I exercise my right if I am stopped from obtaining that item? Legally. I mean, that logic should terrify every gun owner in America. The court has remanded two cases here. The case we’re talking about as well as Second Amendment Foundation’s challenge Brown v. ATF. And they sent them back to the district court with instructions to dismiss the case.

But now that the Fourth Circuit has ruled, the plaintiffs could ask for an en banc, the full court, to rehear the case. Or they could appeal to the Supreme Court. And honestly, this case is a prime candidate for SCOTUS review. The lower court applied Bruin properly. The appellate court rewrote the test. That kind of split is exactly the kind of thing the Supreme Court needs to resolve. With the Fourth Circuit’s decision, the split between appellate courts on the Second Amendment rights of young adults has become even bigger. Florida has until July 11 to respond to their case, which is an NRA cert petition for the Supreme Court.

And that case is challenging the state’s ban on gun sales to under 21 under 21 aged adults known as NRA versus glass. And then there’s Brown versus ATF, the Second Amendment Foundation and McCoy versus ATF, which is the one we started talking about here. And these cases were both decided by the Fourth Circuit yesterday. And they’re not very far behind NRA versus glass, as far as the hierarchy of how far along they have gone timewise. And the Supreme Court will have multiple opportunities this fall to resolve the circuit court split on when adults or rather we the people get to fully exercise our Second Amendment rights.

I don’t remember seeing an age limit when I read the Constitution. But here’s a bigger picture, guys. We need to stay alert because this case shows how courts can bastardize the historical standard to uphold gun control, even when the Second Amendment is clear. If you are 18 to 20 years old and you want to exercise your constitutional right to keep and bear arms, this case should concern you. And if you’re older, this still matters. Why? Because what’s unconstitutional for one age group could be the next for all of us. Support organizations like Second Amendment Foundation or gun owners of America and firearms policy coalition and even the NRA, ILA, and others who are fighting these battles in court every single day.

Check out our sponsor, CMMG, not just for great tools, but because they support our rights, they’ve sued the ATF out of their own pockets and they’re just great people. If you found this video helpful, hit that like button, share it with your fellow patriots, and leave a comment with your thoughts. Should 18 year olds be allowed to buy handguns from FFLs? Drop your take below. And as always, stay safe, stay ready, and stay free. Take care. [tr:trw].

See more of Guns & Gadgets 2nd Amendment News on their Public Channel and the MPN Guns & Gadgets 2nd Amendment News channel.