FPC Sues Over Louisiana's Ban on Young Adults Bearing Arms

The Supreme Court has ducked the issue of when, exactly, our Second Amendment rights kick in, and in doing so has left in place a circuit court split. The Third Circuit, for instance, has ruled that a Pennsylvania law that prohibited adults under the age of 21 from lawfully carrying handguns is unconstitutional, while the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits have upheld laws prohibiting that same age group from purchasing handguns for self-defense, at least from licensed gun stores. 

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has previously concluded that adults younger than 21 do have the right to acquire a handgun for self-defense from FFLs. In Reese v. ATF, the appellate court held that 18-to-20-year-olds are part of "the people" protected by the Second Amendment, and as such have the right to acquire the class of arms most commonly used in self-defense. 

Now the Firearms Policy Coalition is hoping to use that decision as a springboard to claw back the right of young adults to bear arms in the state of Louisiana, which does not allow adults under the age of 21 to obtain a concealed carry permit.  

FPC has filed a new lawsuit in Louisiana called Pool v. Hodges, which argues that under the Fifth Circuit's precedent and the plain text of the Second Amendment, Louisiana's law plainly violates the rights of under-21s. As FPC laid out in a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit:

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a new federal Second Amendment lawsuit challenging Louisiana's unconstitutional prohibition on issuing handgun carry permits to peaceable adults under 21. 

... Federal law separately generally prohibits firearm possession on or within 1,000 feet of an elementary or secondary school unless the person has a carry license issued by the state where the school is located. But Louisiana prohibits adults under 21 from obtaining a handgun carry permit. As a result, these adults are trapped within a sprawling network of invisible "gun-free zones" where they cannot lawfully carry a firearm. Neither so-called “constitutional carry” laws nor a license recognized only through reciprocity exempt people from criminal liability for carrying in these “gun-free zones.” By denying carry licenses to adults under 21, Louisiana prevents them from lawfully carrying through vast portions of the State as they go about their daily lives.

Louisiana's law is an oddity. Adults 18 and older can carry without a permit under the state's Constitutional Carry law, but applicants for a concealed carry license have to be at least 21 years of age. 

The individual plaintiffs in FPC's lawsuit are 19-year-old Ella Pool and 18-year-old Christian McDuffie, both of whom say they cannot legally carry throughout the course of their day because of the federal Gun-Free School Zone Act's restriction on carrying within 1,000 feet of a school unless the gun owner possesses a valid concealed carry license from the state where the school is located. 

I think the federal law is susceptible to a legal challenge as well, but Louisiana's law is even more vulnerable given what the Fifth Circuit has said about 18-to-20-year-olds being able to purchase handguns and the state's own recognition of the right to carry for under-21s without a permit. 

I'm honestly surprised that lawmakers didn't clean up this conflict when they passed their permitless carry bill in 2024, and I'll be curious to see if Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill will even try to defend the law on behalf of Robert Hodges, the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police. The Louisiana legislature could also fix this conflict within state law, but the 2026 session adjourned last month and next year's session won't kick off until March 2027, so it would probably take a special session to align the state's permitless carry and concealed carry licensing laws. 

FPC should be applauded for highlighting this conflict and seeking relief from the federal courts. Maybe this will light a fire under lawmakers to make the necessary changes, but if not the federal judiciary will likely do it for them. 

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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