The Second Amendment

Right to Bear Arms Provision

An Exhibit Booth for Firearms Manufacturer Smith & Wesson Is Seen on Display at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference
in Chicago, Illinois

The American people have the enshrined right to bear arms.

 NRA sues Florida over plan to put age limits on rifle purchases
By Christopher Ingraham for the Washington Post, March 10th, 2018

The National Rifle Association on Friday filed a lawsuit in federal district court over
Florida lawmakers' approval of a broad package of gun-control and school security measures, as
the gun rights group contended the bill violates the Second Amendment of the Constitution with
a provision raising the minimum age to purchase rifles from 18 to 21.
Florida lawmakers passed the regulations in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a high
school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 students and educators dead. The provisions also include a
ban on bump stocks and a three-day waiting period for gun purchases.
The Parkland shooter legally purchased the military-style rifle used in the attack from a
federally licensed gun dealer when he was 18. While federal law sets an age limit of 21 for all
handgun purchases from federally licensed dealers, the federal age limit for purchases of long
guns is 18.
That age difference has become a flashpoint in gun policy debates following the Parkland
shooting. Florida's law makes it one of just three states, including Illinois and Hawaii, that set an
age limit of 21 for rifle purchases.
The NRA maintains that Florida's age limit violates the constitutional rights of young
adults, alleging that it prohibits "an entire class of law-abiding, responsible citizens from fully
exercising the right to keep and bear arms—namely, adults who have reached the age of 18 but
are not yet 21."
The group further notes that "at 18 years of age, law-abiding citizens in this country are
considered adults for almost all purposes and certainly for the purposes of the exercise of
fundamental constitutional rights. At 18, citizens are eligible to serve in the military—to fight
and die by arms for the country."
The issues at stake are similar to those raised in a previous federal lawsuit the NRA
brought alleging the federal prohibition on handgun purchases by individuals under the age of 21
is "a categorical burden on the fundamental right [of young adults] to keep and bear arms."
But the federal courts did not see it that way. In 2013, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled in that case that age restrictions on handgun purchases were "consistent with a
longstanding tradition of targeting select groups’ ability to access and to use arms for the sake of
public safety."
When Congress set the age limit for handgun purchases as part of the Gun Control Act of
1968, it did so because it reasoned that young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 "tend to be
relatively immature and that denying them easy access to handguns would deter violent crime,"
the court found.
 The NRA appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the court declined to
review the case, letting the appeals court's ruling stand. It also declined to review a lower court's
decision that let stand a Texas law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying guns in public.
At the time those denials were issued, longtime Supreme Court observer Lyle Denniston
noted that "the Court is not, as yet, ready to stop lower courts from creating an entirely new
group in society with less than full gun rights. In those cases, it was youths aged eighteen to
twenty years old."
In more recent years, the Supreme Court has also allowed other state-level restrictions on
gun ownership to stand: an assault-weapons ban in Maryland, a 10-day waiting period for gun
purchases in California and a ban on the open carrying of guns in Florida, to name a few.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that the Second Amendment "guarantee[s] the individual right
to possess and carry" firearms. But since then, the Supreme Court has generally let lower courts
determine what types of restrictions on gun ownership remain permissible under that
interpretation.
With the new NRA lawsuit in Florida, federal courts will once again have the chance to
review the extent to which the Second Amendment allows for age limits on firearm purchases.
 Paraphrase of “NRA sues Florida over plan to put age limits on rifle purchases”

On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in

Parkland, Florida left 17 people dead, reigniting national debate over gun policy in America. In

the wake of the tragedy, the Florida state legislature passed a gun package with several

provisions aimed at preventing future shootings, including allowing teachers to carry firearms on

school grounds and raising the minimum age to buy assault rifles to 21. On March 9th, Florida

Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation into law, and the National Rifle Association

immediately sued the State of Florida, claiming that the gun law was a violation of the Second

Amendment.

In its suit against Florida, the NRA specifically targeted the age provision of the new gun

law, calling it an “impermissible burden on the right to keep and bear arms of a class of millions

of law-abiding 18-to-20 year-old adult citizens.” Florida, however, has legal precedent on its

side, as district courts have previously ruled to allow state restrictions on gun purchases. In one

such previous case, an attempt to overturn a Texas law which disallowed the same age cohort to

buy firearms was not even heard by the Supreme Court, and in another, an assault weapons ban

in Maryland was deemed constitutional. Nevertheless, the NRA, which favors a strict

interpretation of the Second Amendment, is fighting on.

The constitutionality of age limits on firearms purchases is just one of many Second

Amendment issues being debated as a result of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting and

dozens of others over the past several years. While many Americans advocate for stricter gun

control measures to protect lives, others are adamant in their defense of firearms, instead seeking
preventative measures to combat mental illness. To the judiciary, however, there is one

preeminent question, the answer to which dictates whether measures such as assault weapons

bans, raising the minimum rifle-buying age, or waiting periods for gun purchases can stand:

despite the text of the Second Amendment proclaiming that “the right to keep and bear arms

shall not be infringed,” is it necessary to infringe upon it to some extent in order to protect

American lives, and, if so, how far can lawmakers go?

 Works Cited

Ingraham, Christopher. “NRA sues Florida over plan to put age limits on rifle purchases.”

Washington Post​ [Washington, DC], 10 Mar. 2018. ​Washington Post​,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/10/nra-sues-florida-over-plan-to-put-

age-limits-on-rifle-purchases. Accessed 13 Mar. 2018.

Young, Jim. ​An Exhibit Booth for Firearms Manufacturer Smith & Wesson Is Seen on Display at

the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Chicago, Illinois​. 26 Oct.

2015. ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Monthly Group,

cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2018/03/RTX4YHUI/lead_960.jpg?152046028

8. Accessed 15 Mar. 2018.