A federal court has ruled that California’s prohibition against selling semi-automatic rifles to adults under 21 was unconstitutional, according to reports.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1, with Judge Sidney Stein of the Southern District of New York dissenting.
“America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” wrote Judge Ryan Nelson in the opinion. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.”
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) applauded the decision and noted that they hope that the law is overturned nationwide.
“Today’s decision confirms that peaceable legal adults cannot be prohibited from acquiring firearms and exercising their rights enshrined in the Second Amendment,” FPC Vice President of Programs Adam Kraut said in a statement. “We are pleased to see progress on this important legal front and optimistic that similar results will come from our many other challenges to age-based bans filed in courts across the United States.”
While the court did not reject the state’s requirement that young adults must obtain a state hunting license to buy a long gun if they are not a part of law enforcement or the military, it did take issue with California banning the sale of semi-automatic rifles to most individuals who are younger than 21 years old.
“Specifically, after first banning only the sale of handguns, California then prohibited the sale to young adults of almost any kind of firearm. The only exception was for sales of long guns to young adults who (1) have a state hunting license, (2) are peace officers, active federal officers, or active federal law enforcement agents and are allowed to carry firearms for their work, or (3) are active or honorably discharged members of the military,” the opinion stated.
State Sen. Anthony Portantino, who wrote the law in the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland massacre and the 2019 synagogue shooting in San Diego County, said that he remains “committed to keeping deadly weapons out of the wrong hands.”
“Student safety on our campuses is something we should all rally behind and sensible gun control is part of that solution,” he said.
