Federal Appeals Court Backs Ban on Handgun Sales to Adults Under 21

A federal appeals court just ruled that adults under 21 can still be barred from buying handguns. This decision clashes with recent Supreme Court rulings and could set up another high-stakes legal battle over gun rights.

Key Facts:

A Fourth Circuit Court panel upheld a federal law requiring individuals to be 21 to buy handguns.
The case tested the law against the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which emphasized historical precedent in evaluating gun laws.
Judges Harvie Wilkinson and Toby Heytens ruled in favor of the age restriction; Judge Marvin Quattlebaum dissented.
Justice Clarence Thomas has previously argued that modern gun laws must align with what would have been acceptable in the Founding Era.
The panel ordered the case to be reversed and dismissed, affirming the restriction’s legality for now.

The Rest of The Story:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has upheld a federal law that bars adults under 21 from purchasing handguns.

The ruling came in response to a challenge arguing that the law violates the Second Amendment under the standards set by the Supreme Court in its 2022 Bruen decision.

That decision laid out a historical test for evaluating modern gun laws.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing in Bruen, stated that “The test courts must apply is whether a firearms restriction would have seemed reasonable to the founding generation that crafted and ratified the Second Amendment.”

Despite this framework, Judge Harvie Wilkinson wrote in the majority opinion that restrictions for people under 21 are rooted in both English common law and America’s founding traditions.

Judge Marvin Quattlebaum dissented, indicating the issue is far from settled.

LEGAL ALERT: The Fourth Circuit has ruled that the federal under-21 handgun ban is constitutional, drawing a long dissent from Judge Quattlebaum and creating a split with the Fifth Circuit. https://t.co/Y8gerF76mE pic.twitter.com/2Cm5qu9Zbw

— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) June 18, 2025

Commentary:

This ruling is a setback for anyone who believes the Constitution means what it says—especially when it comes to the right to bear arms.

At 18, Americans are considered adults for nearly every legal purpose: voting, paying taxes, getting married, joining the military.

Yet when it comes to exercising their Second Amendment rights, they are being told to wait.

The court’s justification—that there’s a historical tradition of denying gun access to young adults—sounds like a stretch.

If we’re supposed to be guided by what the Founders would have accepted, we should remember that 18-year-olds were already serving in militias and handling firearms regularly.

It was common, not controversial.

This decision also creates an inconsistent legal definition of adulthood.

You’re old enough to fight and die for your country, but not old enough to buy a handgun for self-defense?

That contradiction isn’t just illogical—it’s unjust.

The ruling also reinforces an increasingly arbitrary legal system where some rights are given at 18, others at 21, and still others at 25 depending on what the government feels is acceptable.

That’s not how rights are supposed to work.

Either you’re an adult at 18 or you’re not.

Age-based gun restrictions like this are discriminatory.

They treat legal adults like second-class citizens.

If this logic were extended further, it could justify stripping other rights from young adults based on supposed maturity levels or imagined risk profiles.

This case is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court—and it should.

The high court has already clarified in Heller, McDonald, and Bruen that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental individual right.

Now it’s time for SCOTUS to make clear that this right applies equally to all law-abiding adults, not just those over 21.

If this ruling stands, it could set a precedent that chips away at gun rights for other demographics too.

What’s to stop lawmakers from deciding that 25, 30, or even older is a “safer” age to own firearms?

Let’s hope the Supreme Court takes up the case soon and restores full Second Amendment protections to all legal adults.

The Bottom Line:

A federal appeals court has ruled that adults under 21 can still be blocked from buying handguns, despite recent Supreme Court decisions calling for historical consistency in gun laws.

The decision sets up a likely showdown at the Supreme Court.

This case could become a major test of whether 18-to-20-year-olds will be recognized as full adults under the Second Amendment.

The right to self-defense shouldn’t depend on your birthdate.