The
ruling, which the Justice Department is expected to challenge,
will not take effect until judge Robert Payne, of the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was
appointed by President George H.W. Bush, issues his final order
in the coming weeks.
The ruling would not affect the 19 states that have their own
laws barring handgun sales to anyone younger than 21.
Payne's ruling follows on the Supreme Court's significant
expansion of gun rights in the past year, which the judge
frequently referenced in his ruling issued on Wednesday.
"Because the statutes and regulations in question are not
consistent with our nation's history and tradition, they,
therefore, cannot stand," Payne wrote in his decision.
Lawyers representing the Justice Department in the case did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Elliott Harding, the attorney for the four original plaintiffs
who were ages 18 to 20 and wanted to purchase handguns, said he
was pleased with the decision.
"Even though it ensures that future buyers can now purchase
these firearms in the federal system, one that includes
background checks and other requirements, we expect the
Defendants will appeal," Harding said. "Nevertheless, we remain
optimistic that the decision will be affirmed in due course."
Gun rights, held dear by many Americans and promised by the
country's 18th Century founders, are a contentious issue in a
nation with high levels of firearm violence, including numerous
mass shootings.
There have been at least 210 so far in 2023, the most at this
point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun
Violence Archive. The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as
any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not
including the shooter.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Additional
reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California; Editing
by Gerry Doyle)
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