A federal judge has upheld Colorado’s law barring gun sales to adults under 21, despite national legal divisions over the Second Amendment rights of young adults. The ruling clashes with other federal court decisions and raises a core question about the legal meaning of adulthood.
Key Facts:
- U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer upheld Colorado’s law requiring firearm buyers to be 21 or older.
- The lawsuit was filed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and two men under 21 who were denied gun purchases.
- Brimmer sided with the 10th Circuit’s ruling that age-based gun restrictions fall outside the Second Amendment.
- The law allows exceptions only for active-duty military and peace officers while on duty.
- The decision conflicts with a 5th Circuit ruling and the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision on concealed carry rights.
The Rest of The Story:
Colorado’s law, expanded by SB23-169, raised the minimum age to purchase any firearm to 21.
Before this change, federal law already required individuals to be 21 to buy a handgun but allowed 18-year-olds to buy rifles and shotguns.
Judge Brimmer agreed with the 10th Circuit’s interpretation that this kind of age-based rule qualifies for a “safe harbor” exclusion and does not violate the Second Amendment.
“Adrian Pineda and Matthew Newkirk are undoubtedly part of ‘the people,’” he wrote, but deferred to the higher court’s precedent, which had “resolved this case” already.
Governor Polis praised the ruling, calling the law a “common-sense” measure to protect public safety.
However, legal observers note it contradicts a ruling by the 5th Circuit, which declared such restrictions unconstitutional, and it stands in contrast to the Supreme Court’s expansion of gun rights in Bruen.
Commentary:
This ruling is deeply flawed.
Either 18-year-olds are adults with full constitutional rights, or they’re not.
If an 18-year-old can enlist, pay taxes, sign contracts, and be held legally responsible for their actions, then they should be able to exercise every constitutional right—including the right to keep and bear arms.
Setting the gun-buying age at 21 creates a two-tier system of citizenship.
It tells millions of legal adults that they’re not quite adult enough to be trusted with their own rights.
This is the same illogic behind setting the drinking age at 21: a political compromise that insults personal responsibility and ignores individual rights.
The 10th Circuit’s “safe harbor” logic sidesteps the Constitution rather than confronts it.
Judges are supposed to interpret the Constitution based on its text and historical meaning—not carve out arbitrary exceptions based on modern policy preferences.
Colorado’s law sends a clear message: the state doesn’t trust its own adult citizens.
That’s not safety—it’s soft tyranny.
We hope the plaintiffs appeal and that a higher court—possibly even the Supreme Court—restores the rights of legal adults who have done nothing wrong.
The Bottom Line:
A Colorado judge just ruled that 18-to-20-year-old adults can be denied their Second Amendment rights based on age alone.
That ruling flies in the face of constitutional protections and contradicts decisions in other parts of the country.
If 18 is old enough to serve and be punished like an adult, it should be old enough to exercise all adult rights—including the right to bear arms.
This legal battle is far from over.
Read Next
– U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro Moves to Jail Woman Who Spit on Ed Martin For Violating Terms of Release
– White House Pushes Aggressive New Plan to Expel Illegal Immigrants