The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision not to appeal a Fifth Circuit ruling striking down the federal ban on handgun purchases for 18-to-20-year-olds is a significant victory for Second Amendment rights.
By letting the appeal deadline pass in June 2025, the DOJ effectively allows the ruling to stand, meaning young adults could legally buy handguns in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. However, the Fourth Circuit upheld the same federal ban in June 2025, so not all states might allow handgun purchases by young adults.
The ban, part of federal law since 1968, prevented licensed firearm dealers from selling pistols to young adults, a restriction pro-gun advocates argue violated the constitutional protections of law-abiding citizens.
The Fifth Circuit’s unanimous January 2025 decision in Reese v. ATF held that these statutes infringe on the Second Amendment, as 18-to-20-year-olds are part of “the people” entitled to keep and bear arms.
Judge Edith H. Jones, who authored the court’s Reese opinion, pointed to the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which said that modern-day gun laws must be similar to gun restrictions in early American history.
“The federal government has presented scant evidence that eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds’ firearm rights during the founding-era were restricted in a similar manner to the contemporary federal handgun purchase ban,” she wrote in the January 2025 decision.
Hannah Hill, vice president of the National Foundation for Gun Rights, said, “Major props to the Trump DOJ for refusing to fight for the federal 18-20 handgun purchase ban. The 5th Circuit absolutely got this one right and DOJ did the right thing not to appeal that ruling.”
This move aligns with President Trump’s executive order directing the DOJ to prioritize protecting Second Amendment rights.
Also from the decision, “The operative clause of the Second Amendment states that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’” the 5th Circuit said. “There are no age or maturity restrictions in the plain text of the Amendment, as there are in other constitutional provisions.”
The ruling builds on the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which requires gun laws to align with historical traditions, a standard the Fifth Circuit found the handgun ban failed to meet.
Judge Jones, in the court’s opinion, noted the lack of historical evidence for restricting firearm rights of 18-to-20-year-olds during the Founding era.
This as a clear affirmation that young adults, often trusted to vote, serve in the military, and exercise other Constitutional rights, should not be denied their Second Amendment protections.
Since Congress passed the Gun Control Act in 1968, gun dealers have been prohibited from selling handguns to people under 21. Under federal law, it’s not illegal for that age group to possess or use handguns, or to buy them from friends or family, or in other so-called private transactions. Some states have stricter laws that prohibit all sales or possession for those under 21.
The Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Reese is a significant development because it is the first federal appellate court to strike down the federal handgun purchase ban for 18-to-20-year-olds under the Bruen framework. It also directly conflicts with the Tenth Circuit’s decision in Rocky Mountain Gun Owners v. Polis, which upheld a similar state ban on 18-to-20-year-old adults.
