In a win for Second Amendment advocates, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided this week with two Central Virginians in their quest to purchase a handgun despite being under the federally required age limit.
The legal fight started when Tanner Hirschfeld and Natalia Marshall, both Charlottesville residents under the age of 21, hoped to buy a handgun but found they were banned by a 1968 federal law.
And while a Virginia Federal Court dismissed their claim, in a vote of 2-1, the Richmond-based appeals court criticized data used to craft the law, including claims that those under the age 21 “are not fully developed so those individuals are prone to reckless and emotional behavior.”
Circuit Judge Julius Richardson, appointed by former President Donald Trump in 2018, said in a lengthy majority opinion that the data in question failed to adequately link "purchases from licensed dealers to crimes committed by youth” in a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Elliot Harding is the Charlottesville-based attorney who argued the case last fall:
“The court held that the Second Amendment equally applies to all adults over the age of 18 and our clients can now go purchase their handguns from federally licensed firearm dealers,” he explained.
The order next returns to federal court where a judge will grant the plaintiffs’ request to block the law. That could open a brief window for legal handgun purchases by those under 21, but over 18, across the appeals court's reach, including the rest of Virginia and North Carolina.
A spokesperson from the Department of Justice, which defended the ban, told the Wall Street Journal the agency “respectfully disagrees” with the ruling and is currently considering its options.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.