Supreme Court Tells Judges to Rethink Expanding Gun Rights in Pennsylvania

The Supreme Court has struck down a decision from a Pennsylvania court ruling the state could not ban guns for 18- to 20-year-olds in the state.

Now, the case of Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, v Lara, the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition will be remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for further consideration.

The case centers around the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act of 1995, which prohibits residents from carrying a concealed firearm without a license and mandates gun holders must be at least 21 years old to apply for a license.

These restrictions were challenged by the Second Amendment support organizations, and a Pennsylvania court found the state law unconstitutional this year.

The Pennsylvania court ruled that “all Americans” described in the Constitution’s Second Amendment includes 18- to 20-year-olds, and the state law unlawfully prohibited young people from their constitutional right to carry a firearm.

Now, after the Supreme Court order, this decision will be back up for a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals, and the police commissioner could have the law reinstated depending on the decision.

“Even though laws establishing 21 as the minimum age for gun rights have existed for more than 150 years and are consistent with the Founding-era practice of disarming those who present a danger to the public, the Third Circuit held that such laws are inconsistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation,” the Supreme Court said in its order.

“That holding reflects a profound and fundamental misunderstanding of this Court’s Second Amendment precedents, and implicates important, unresolved methodological questions with which courts throughout the country are struggling.”

In recent years, many state judges have struck down gun laws centered around age restrictions to carry a firearm. Laws prohibiting guns to people under age 21 have existed since the 1850s, but recent debate over the Second Amendment has reignited conversations over the constitutionality of these rules.

Justice Clarence Thomas previously ruled in a 2022 case that the test of constitutionality for gun laws should now be based on whether the regulation is “consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition,” which made it more difficult for states to defend their gun safety laws in court.

There has still been a significant push to get more restrictive gun laws approved, however.

In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey just passed a law that restricts unserialized firearms called “ghost guns” and also prohibits residents from possessing bump stocks and trigger cranks.

“This gun safety law bans ghost guns, strengthens the Extreme Risk Protection Order statute to keep guns out of the hands of people who are a danger to themselves or others, and invests in violence prevention programs,” Healey said in a statement. “It is important that these measures go into effect without delay.”

Across the country, 13,000 gun-related deaths have already occurred in 2024, and more than 24,500 gun-related injuries have been recorded as well, according to the Gun Violence Archive.