Federal Appeals Court: Handgun Purchase Ban for 18-20 Year Olds Unconstitutional

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday that the federal ban against 18-20-year-olds buying handguns is unconstitutional.

The Majority Opinion by Judge Julius Richardson–joined by Bush 43-appointee Judge Stephen Agree–looked at militia laws in American history and the Founding Fathers’ views that an armed populace made an armed militia possible, allowing the latter to repel a tyrannical government, should the need arise: 

"So while the individual right of self-defense was “the central component” of the Second Amendment, the civic purpose “was codified” based on the fear that a tyrannical government would eliminate the civically minded militia. Both reflected the pre-existing right of self-defense that the Founders valued as the core purpose of the state. “In the Founders’ world, individual self protection and community defense were not wholly separate spheres.”