New York Governor Kathy Hochul may be the first anti-gun politician to declare adults younger than 21 still won't be able to purchase handguns at retail after the Justice Department issued an opinion declaring the federal statute in conflict with the Second Amendment, but New York isn't the only state where young adults are likely to still find their rights restricted.
There are 12 other states besides New York that currently have their own laws forbidding 18-to-20-year-olds from purchasing handguns, and some of them impose even broader bans on the purchase of almost all firearms.
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia are the states in question, and Ohio is the only state where Republicans are in control of state government. The other 12 aren't going to voluntarily rescind their ban, and Buckeye State lawmakers could lose their ability to do so if Democrat Amy Acton defeats Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in this year's governor's race.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon replied to Hochul's post on X with an emoji that indicated she's taking an official interest in the New York law, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals isn't particularly friendly ground for Second Amendment advocates.
The Delaware Supreme Court recently upheld the state's ban on handgun sales to under-21s, but a separate federal lawsuit that's been on pause can now resume. The Third Circuit has already ruled that 18-to-20-year-olds have the right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home, and it seems likely that it will rule that age group also has the right to acquire a handgun through a commercial sale. If the DOJ is looking for a circuit court that would be receptive to its argument, it may be better off pursuing a challenge to Delaware's ban and not New York's.
Of course, the DOJ could sue both states, so long as it has the resources to do so.
There's already a circuit court split on the question about when, exactly, we're fully vested with our Second Amendment rights, but unfortunately the Supreme Court has decided to keep that split in place for now. It denied cert to five separate lawsuits dealing with either bans on the sale or carrying of firearms among young adults last term, but there are two other cases that are currently at the appellate stage.
FPC v. ATF is a Fifth Circuit case challenging the federal ban on handgun sales, and the DOJ's reply brief is actually due before the Fifth Circuit today. It'll be interesting to see what the Justice Department's stance will be now that the Office of Legal Counsel has said enforcement of the ban violates the Second Amendment. The district court ruled the ban unconstitutional as well, but limited the scope of its relief to those who were members of the named plaintiffs when the lawsuit was filed, and only for those in the Fifth Circuit's jurisdiction. FPC is appealing the scope of the decision, while DOJ has contended the ruling itself was wrong.
PWGG v. Bonta is a challenge to California's law prohibiting 18-to-20-year-olds from purchasing long guns unless they acquire a hunting license and wholly banning them from purchasing semiautomatic centerfire rifles. While it doesn't directly deal with a ban on handgun sales, it could provide SCOTUS with a vehicle to issue a decision that spells out at what age we're fully vested with our Second Amendment rights. Oral arguments were held before a three-judge panel in June, so a decision could come down at any time.
If California loses, though, I expect the state will request an en banc review, which would delay the case reaching the Supreme Court if the request is granted.
The bottom line is that there's no quick and easy fix for those states with under-21 gun bans already in place. And honestly, even the federal prohibition will likely remain in place until the ATF releases specific guidance for FFLs around the country. ATF Director Robert Cekada and lead counsel Robert Leider will both be at Gun Rights Policy Conference this week, and I'm sure they'll be asked repeatedly about what the agency will do and when they expect it to be done.
