Lest I be taken to be arguing that age restrictions on firearms should be held unconstitutional, I hasten to add that I set forth the data and arguments above to illustrate how misguided Justice Thomas's view is and to warn those who favor tighter restrictions on guns that the Supreme Court really is a problem. It has become common lately for gun control proponents to say that the chief obstacle isn't the Second Amendment as construed by the Supreme Court but our politics.
As I discussed last week , that contention overlooks the symbolic value of the Court's opinions beyond their technical details. Still, I concede and am glad that Heller renders various categories of firearms restrictions permissible as a consequence of Justice Scalia's ipse dixit.
What I mean to show here is that outside of Justice Scalia's stated exceptions, the application of traditional intermediate scrutiny as exemplified by a case like Craig would be a serious constraint on the sorts of firearms regulations that even some Republicans now appear to favor. The problem isn't only Justice Thomas. He's right that a majority of the Court in Heller rejected rational basis scrutiny in favor of something roughly like intermediate scrutiny.
In the short run, the best hope for the SCOTUS permitting what are sometimes called common-sense gun regulations is that the other justices continue to lack the courage of their convictions.
In the long run, one must work to elect politicians who will not only enact sensible firearms regulations but will nominate and confirm to future SCOTUS vacancies jurists who see the Court's Second Amendment jurisprudence for the threat to public safety that it is.
I am aware that, despite my disclaimers, the arguments set forth above could be used by lawyers promoting gun rights to attack regulations I actually favor. Let me offer three quick responses:. If others use my work for purposes I disapprove, that's just an occupational hazard. In Heller and McDonald v. Chicago , the Court repeatedly compares the Second Amendment to the First Amendment, so it would make sense to import the First Amendment version of intermediate scrutiny into Second Amendment jurisprudence rather than the tougher Craig test.
As UC Davis Law Professor Ash Bhagwat has explained , intermediate scrutiny is quite common in First Amendment cases, and the lower courts--with Supreme Court acquiescence--tend to apply it in a way that mostly sustains challenged regulations. Although Prof. Bhagwat offers normative criticisms of the First Amendment cases, his descriptive analysis which is still largely accurate eleven years since its publication provides a strong basis in current case law for resisting Justice Thomas's claim that the lower courts have been misapplying intermediate scrutiny under the Second Amendment; they have been treating the Second Amendment more or less like the First Amendment, which is, after all, what Heller and McDonald appear to demand.
On this week's Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss the recent Supreme Court decisions requiring states to allow in-person religious services even while other gatherings can be banned. The pair gently disagree about how hard or easy these cases are. Listen now! Jason Harrow. Charlie Gerstein. In the first case, the government argues that the President's twitter feed is not an official public forum, so he can block people with whom he disagrees.
In the second, the government argues that the President's denials that he sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll were made in his official capacity as President. The Nineteenth Amendment helped cement the idea that the right to vote is a fundamental right inherent in citizenship. David Gans. Listen Now: Versus Trump Podcast. Subscribe For Updates Submit. Recently on Take Care. Washington D. Versus Trump: The End Or The Beginning? He also cites historical references to the time of the Founding Fathers, noting that year-olds typically served in the militia at age A federal law, enacted in , bars federally licensed dealers from selling handguns to persons under age But those age 18 and over are still permitted under federal law to purchase handguns from a private party.
They also are allowed to buy long guns from a dealer. The National Rifle Association said it applauded the decision. All rights reserved. The Gun Control Act of made it illegal for a gun dealer to sell handgun to anyone under the age of But the agency's regulations only apply to federally licensed firearms dealers, not to non-professional private sellers.
While Congress will soon consider legislation to close the part of the private seller loophole that lets them sell guns without background checks, the handgun age restriction loophole has so far not been specifically addressed or even much noticed.
But the Internet is way ahead of Washington and the media and can helpfully explain this nuance in the gun laws to anyone looking for answers. I'm 18 years old? Another: "To be honest your best bet is to place a WTB [want to buy] classified, make sure you are up front about your age because lots of Face to Face sellers won't sell to someone under A separate user wrote that he or she had "heard from a lot of virginia residents that you can buy a gun at 18 years old in virginia at a gun show without a license i also know a couple of people that have bought from gun shows.
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