A U.S. appeals court has once again upheld Florida’s 2018 law barring people under age 21 from buying long guns, rejecting a challenge by the National Rifle Association. But Florida’s attorney general says that if the case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, his office won’t defend it.
The entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied the legal challenge by the gun rights organization on Friday, two years after a three-judge panel similarly rejected the legal challenge. The Florida Legislature and then-Gov. Rick Scott signed the law shortly after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that killed 17 people.
There have been several attempts since then to repeal the law in the Florida Legislature, and a similar proposal is advancing this session in the Florida House.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated his support for overturning the law and, shortly after the ruling was announced Attorney General James Uthmeier, until recently the governor’s chief of staff, announced his position on a Supreme Court appeal.
“Notwithstanding CA11’s opinion today, I believe restricting the right of law-abiding adults to purchase firearms is unconstitutional,” Uthmeier said on X, adding that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reached the same conclusion.
“Men and women old enough to fight and die for our country should be able to purchase firearms to defend themselves and their families,” Uthmeier said.
The Fifth Circuit ruled in January that the federal law banning federal firearms licensees from selling handguns to individuals aged 18 to 20 is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
