OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
Judge Thomas S. Kleeh, a Donald Trump appointee, has struck down the federal prohibition against 18 to 20-year-olds purchasing handguns in a recent decision.
The case, brought by individuals and gun rights organizations, challenged the constitutionality of the ban, with the plaintiffs seeking summary judgment against the statute.
Judge Kleeh sided with the plaintiffs, enjoining the ATF and its officials from enforcing the ban against 18 to 20-year-olds who are “otherwise qualified” to make such purchases. (Trending: Olympic Gold Medalist Sentenced For Jan 6)
“This case requires the Court to assess the protected right of the people under the Second Amendment to the Constitution to keep and bear arms,” wrote Judge Kleeh.
“U.S. Const. amend. II. Plaintiffs Robert Brown (“Brown”) and Benjamin Weekley (“Weekley”), individuals, are “law abiding, responsible adult citizens who wish to purchase handguns,” explained Kleeh.
“Brown and Weekley are citizens of West Virginia and the United States of America and are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. Brown and Weekley, as law-abiding, responsible adult citizens, would purchase handguns and handgun ammunition from Federal Firearms Licensees (“FFLs”) but for the right proscribed by 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1),” wrote the judge.
Judge Kleeh wrote that the two West Virginians were “refused the sales because they were under twenty-one years of age.”
This decision is based on the assessment of the protected right under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms and references the Supreme Court’s test set forth in Heller.
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