---
[ VOICES ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices)
# 'Madness': Federal Judge Rules 18-to-20-Year-Olds Can't Be Barred from Gun Purchases
May 11 2023
Written by Julia Conley.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
JUDGE ON ASSAULT WEAPONS - A federal judge's ruling in Virginia on Thursday once again made clear[ the impact ](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/14/judges-ruling-gun-serial-numbers-highlights-deadly-impact-right-wing-supreme-court)of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of *[New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/23/devastating-supreme-court-blows-massive-hole-state-gun-control-efforts)*, in which the right-wing majority ruled that laws and regulations pertaining to firearms must fall within the United States' so-called "historical tradition."
The ruling on Thursday was [handed down](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/11/judge-rules-handgun-sales-allowed-18-year-olds/) by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne, a George H.W. Bush appointee, in the case of a 20-year-old who was turned away when he attempted to buy a Glock 19x handgun from a federally licensed dealer.
Under regulations put in place by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives (ATF) and the Gun Control Act of 1968, federally licensed sellers have been prohibited from selling guns to 18-to-20-year-olds, who have had to make such purchases in private sales.
Payne ruled that "the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our nation's history and tradition," and that "therefore, they cannot stand."
The judge made clear in his decision that the ruling was underpinned by *Bruen*, in which Justice [Clarence Thomas](https://www.commondreams.org/tag/clarence-thomas) wrote in the majority opinion that "constitutional rights are enshrined with the scope they were understood to have when the people adopted them."
According to Payne, the fact that 18-year-olds were permitted to join militias at the time of the nation's founding suggests that buyers should not have to reach age 21 before purchasing handguns from licensed sellers.
"The Second Amendment's protections apply to 18-to-20-year-olds. By adopting the Second Amendment, the people constrained both the hands of Congress and the courts to infringe upon this right by denying ordinary law-abiding citizens of this age the full enjoyment of the right to keep and bear arms unless the restriction is supported by the nation's history," [said](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/11/judge-rules-handgun-sales-allowed-18-year-olds/) Payne. "That is what *Bruen* tells us."
Princeton University professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. [denounced](https://twitter.com/esglaude/status/1656739897690976274) the ruling as "madness," while New York University law professor Chris Sprigman said the decision is the latest result of "America's extremist form of constitutionalism."
Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at gun control advocacy group Everytown Law, pointed to research that shows that "18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older."
"The federal law prohibiting federally licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to individuals under the age of 21 is not just an essential tool for preventing gun violence, it is also entirely constitutional," Carter [told](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/11/judge-rules-handgun-sales-allowed-18-year-olds/) The Washington Post*. "The court's ruling will undoubtedly put lives at risk. It must be reversed."
Attorneys on both sides of the case said they expected the Biden administration to appeal the ruling.
Numerous polls have [shown](https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2023/02/01/majority-americans-support-gun-control-poll) that the majority of Americans favor stricter gun control measures, and a survey of gun owners taken last year by *NPR*/Ipsos[found](https://www.npr.org/2022/07/08/1110239487/most-gun-owners-favor-modest-restrictions-but-deeply-distrust-government-poll-fi) that 67% of respondents favored raising the age for any gun purchase from 18 to 21.
"At a moment when Americans are growing more unified and in favor of gun control," [said](https://twitter.com/brianros1/status/1656744401845071872) historian Brian Rosenwald, "Clarence Thomas' grotesque, inane opinion in *Bruen is going to make all of them illegal."
*(Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams where this article was first featured.)*
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
Website
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ VOICES ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33595-the-firms-that-never-lose-inside-la-countys-4-billion-settlement-machine)### [The Firms That Never Lose: Inside LA County's $4 Billion Settlement Machine](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33595-the-firms-that-never-lose-inside-la-countys-4-billion-settlement-machine)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33605-nithya-is-a-nightmare)### [Nithya is a NIGHTMARE!!!](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33605-nithya-is-a-nightmare)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33562-marissa-roy-the-other-face-of-gascon)### [Marissa Roy: The Other Face of Gascón](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33562-marissa-roy-the-other-face-of-gascon)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33566-its-85-seconds-to-midnight-on-the-doomsday-clock-do-you-know-what-your-a-i-is-up-to)### [It's 85 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Do You Know What Your A.I. Is Up To? ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33566-its-85-seconds-to-midnight-on-the-doomsday-clock-do-you-know-what-your-a-i-is-up-to)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33514-another-october-7th-has-come-and-gone-but-worldwide-jewry-survives)### [Another October 7th Has Come and Gone, But Worldwide Jewry Survives!](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33514-another-october-7th-has-come-and-gone-but-worldwide-jewry-survives)