By The Epoch Times | Created at 2025-03-15 03:09:17 | Updated at 2025-03-15 09:17:06
6 hours ago
The state’s attorney general said he wouldn’t defend the law if the ruling is appealed to the Supreme Court.
A federal appeals court upheld on March 14 Florida’s law barring anyone under 21 from purchasing long guns.
Florida’s attorney general has signaled his opposition to the ruling by stating his office will not defend the law if it is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on March 14 that the law aligns with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation and does not violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The decision follows the precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen (2022) and Rahimi (2024) rulings, which require modern gun laws to align with historical firearm restrictions.
Florida enacted the under-21 firearm purchase ban in 2018, shortly after a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 people in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. The law raised the minimum age to buy any firearm in Florida to 21, extending a federal restriction that already applied to handguns.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and an individual plaintiff sued the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, arguing that the law infringes upon the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. A lower court upheld the ban, and the case was appealed to the 11th Circuit, which ultimately affirmed the ruling.
The 11th Circuit found that historical precedents support age-based restrictions on firearm purchases, particularly for individuals under 21. The majority opinion emphasized that minors in the Founding era were considered legally incapable of exercising full rights, including the independent purchase of firearms.
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“The Founders’ generation shared the view that minors lacked the reason and judgment necessary to be trusted with legal rights,” the court wrote, adding that at the time of America’s founding, a person was legally considered a minor until age 21.
The majority also rejected arguments that militia service by those under 21 implied a right to buy firearms, stating: “Nor does the fact that some states required minors to serve in the militia establish that they had a right to unfettered firearm access.”
Several dissenting judges disagreed with the majority’s opinion, arguing that there were no Founding-era prohibitions on young adults purchasing firearms and criticizing the majority for reading an age limit into the Second Amendment.
The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling and has not indicated whether it would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Shortly after the ruling was announced, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced his position on a potential Supreme Court appeal.
“Upon assuming office, I tasked my staff with reviewing Florida’s underlying law and whether it was consistent with the Second Amendment. Notwithstanding CA11’s opinion today, I believe restricting the right of law-abiding adults to purchase firearms is unconstitutional,” he wrote in a post on X.
Uthmeier also pointed to recent Fifth Circuit rulings that struck down similar restrictions.
“If the NRA decides to seek further review at [the U.S. Supreme Court], I am directing my office not to defend this law. Men and women old enough to fight and die for our country should be able to purchase firearms to defend themselves and their families.”
Despite the 11th Circuit’s ruling, Florida lawmakers are moving to repeal the under-21 purchase ban. A bill to lower the age back to 18 has gained momentum in the Florida House, with Republican legislators arguing that the restriction infringes upon constitutional rights.
“The ability to purchase and utilize a firearm is your constitutional right, and reinstating those rights is the right thing to do for Floridians,” state Rep. Michelle Salzman, a Republican who co-sponsored this year’s bill, said in a statement. “We must stop infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding adults who are old enough to serve in our military and make other significant life decisions.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has also indicated his support for overturning the ban. In a recent State of the State address, he said he wants lawmakers to re-examine key provisions of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act—and that he specifically wants provisions that raised the legal age to purchase long guns to 21 to be repealed.
“We need to be a strong Second Amendment state. I know many of you agree, so let’s get some positive reform done for the people in this state of Florida,” he said.
There has been opposition from gun control groups and Democrats to efforts to repeal parts of the 2018 law.
“This is personal,” Florida State Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a Democrat who was mayor of Parkland at the time of the mass shooting, said in remarks to Florida Phoenix. “It pains me to hear some of the garbage arguments that are made against it.”
Florida is one of only eight states that prohibit individuals under 21 from purchasing long guns, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. Gun control advocates say that maintaining the law is a necessary safeguard to reduce the number of lives lost in crimes involving firearms.
