A three-judge panel for the United State Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday found that Minnesota’s ban against 18-20 year-olds seeking permits to carry handguns for self defense is unconstitutional.
The three judges were George W. Bush appointee Lavenski Smith, George W. Bush appointee Duane Benton, and Donald Trump appointee David Stras.
Minnesota banned individuals 18-20 years of age from obtaining carry permits via The Minnesota Citizens’ Personal Protection Act of 2003. The ban was challenged by the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., and the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.
The three-judge panel weighed the ban in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen (2022) decision.
Bruen requires courts to test by gun controls for historic support in American history and the Founding Father’s intent.
Just weeks after the Bruen ruling was issued, the Washington Times suggested it would result in gun control of all types facing challenges.
The Times paraphrased Justice Clarence Thomas’s emphasis on the important of rulings like Bruen, McDonald v. Chicago (2010), and District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), saying, “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. If not, the law must give way to the Constitution.”
The three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit found that Minnesota’s ban on 18-20 year-olds applying for permits to carry handguns in public for self-defense could not survive Bruen, and was, therefore, unconstitutional, writing, “Minnesota has not met its burden to proffer sufficient evidence to rebut the presumption that 18 to 20-year-olds seeking to carry handguns in public for self defense are protected by the right to keep and bear arms.”
Second Amendment Foundation founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb commented on the decision, saying, “This is a significant victory for the rights of young adults. It is one more step in our crusade to win firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time.”
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AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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