Supreme Court Could Soon Address Teen Handgun Purchase Restrictions

A significant legal debate regarding whether individuals under 21 have the constitutional right to purchase handguns may soon reach the Supreme Court, potentially overturning long-established federal restrictions and fundamentally altering U.S. gun regulations.

In January, the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans invalidated the federal government's longstanding prohibition on handgun purchases by 18- to 20-year-olds. This ruling contrasts with the 10th Circuit's November decision to uphold the same restriction. Simultaneously, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is evaluating whether to sustain a Virginia district court judge's ruling that struck down the age restriction.

"Whenever there's decisions that cross each other, you have a much better chance of getting a writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court," explained Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, in comments to Fox News Digital.

Jacob Charles, a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University specializing in Second Amendment issues, stated: "This issue is definitely making its way to the Supreme Court—and fast. This is a key federal law, and you just can't have that apply differently across the nation (at least for long)."

The federal prohibition on handgun sales to individuals under 21 was established in 1968 as part of that year's Gun Control Act. Following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, numerous lawsuits challenging age-based gun sale restrictions have emerged throughout the court system. According to data compiled by the gun-violence nonprofit news outlet The Trace, more than 1,600 Bruen-based challenges to gun laws were filed between June 2022 and August 2024.

The Bruen ruling rejected the strict scrutiny frameworks previously employed by lower courts to evaluate gun laws, instead establishing a "historical tradition" standard requiring laws to align more directly with the Second Amendment's text.

"The levels of scrutiny – rational basis, intermediate scrutiny, strict scrutiny – don't matter. What the Supreme Court's Bruen ruling said was, you have to look at the text and the history. That's what counts," Gottlieb noted. "When the Bill of Rights was put together, there was nothing that prohibited 18-to 20-year-old young adults from being able to own or carry a firearm."

Gottlieb's Second Amendment Foundation has initiated legal action in multiple states to overturn bans on handgun sales to adults under 21. Several cases challenging age limit restrictions, including recently filed suits in Massachusetts and Connecticut, remain active.

"Our track record, at least, is mostly wins, and part of the logic on that is that there's nothing in under the Bruen decision at the Supreme Court, which makes them look at the text and history of the Second Amendment," Gottlieb added.

The Fifth Circuit referenced the Supreme Court's Bruen ruling in its decision against upholding the federal ban, as did two other circuit courts in the past year.

One case in the Eighth Circuit invalidated Minnesota's ban. Subsequently, Minnesota's Commissioner of Public Safety filed a petition requesting Supreme Court review, which remains pending.