Second Amendment Upheld by Federal Appeals Court
July 13, 2021 6:54pm
Today, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled that the 1968 federal law that outlawed the sale of handguns to 18 - 20 year-olds is unconstitutional. That law is the deceptively named "Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968."
The validity of this decision should be obvious to anyone who understands and respects our Constitution. Yet other courts have ruled otherwise. And the Biden Administration will certainly ask for an en banc hearing that, if granted, would probably reverse today's ruling by a three judge panel. The two judges on the majority side of today’s 2 -1 decision were both appointed by Republican presidents (George W. Bush & Donald Trump). The dissenting judge was an Obama appointee.
The plain text of the Second Amendment makes very clear that the Right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual right that shall not be infringed. But just last month, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker, an Obama appointee, upheld Florida's 2018 law that made it illegal to sell any firearm to 18 - 20 year olds in the state. What makes Florida's gun sale law so egregiously unconstitutional is not just its prohibition on sales to 18 - 20 year-olds. It is that if those 18 - 20 year-olds are serving in the military or police, they CAN purchase a firearm.
So the law as it stands now in Florida is that Second Amendment Rights are EARNED through service in the military or law enforcement and are, therefore, not fundamental rights to which all citizens are entitled. That is anathema to our free Republic.
Today's decision in Richmond, while proper, is far from restoring constitutional rights to 18 - 20 year-olds, as it is certain to be appealed. It also has no legal effect in Florida because Florida is in the Eleventh Circuit. But hopefully, the Supreme Court will grant a writ of certiorari to settle the issue once and for all nationwide. You can read today's decision at https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/20988578/document20.pdf