US Prohibition Against 18-to-20-Year-Olds Buying Handguns Tossed

The US government’s prohibition on 18-to-20-year-olds buying handguns violates the Second Amendment and “cannot stand,” a federal judge in Virginia ruled.

The right to purchase a handgun falls under right to “keep and bear arms,” and young adults are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment, Judge Robert E. Payne of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at Richmond said Wednesday.

Restricting the right of 18-to-20-year-olds to buy handguns, via an interlocking collection of federal law and regulations, isn’t supported by the nation’s history and tradition, Payne said. The government presented numerous militia laws from ...