18 to 20 Year Olds  by Tom Reynolds

A press release from the Department of Justice (emphasis added): 

Today, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel released a legal opinion concluding that the federal prohibition may not be enforced against consistent with the licensed dealers selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 to 20 Second Amendment.

The Office of Legal Counsel’s new opinion explains that federal statutes 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) are inconsistent with the Second Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, and subsequent decisions including Wolford v. Lopez. These statutes generally prohibit federally licensed dealers from selling handguns or handgun ammunition to individuals under 21.

The Office of Legal Counsel determined that 18 to 20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment. “Eighteen-year-olds may vote, serve on juries, be drafted, and face adult criminal penalties, including capital punishment,” said Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. "The Constitution protects the people’s right to keep and bear arms. The Department of Justice may not constitutionally seek to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to law-abiding adults who, in nearly every other relevant respect, are members of the political community.”

Because the restrictions burden the ability of members of “the people” to acquire commonly used arms, they fall within the Amendment’s plain text and are presumptively unconstitutional. The Office of Legal Counsel found no Founding era history or tradition of precluding legal adults from purchasing firearms to protect public safety. To the contrary, at the Founding, militia statutes overwhelmingly required service beginning at 18 and required enrollees to furnish their own arms.

The Office of Legal Counsel concludes that Section 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) may not be enforced to impose criminal penalties on dealers who sell handguns to a class of law-abiding adults who, in nearly every other relevant respect, are members of the political community.

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I am not a lawyer, but I noticed the announcement deals with legalizing sales to 18 to 20 year olds, not possession of firearms by them.

Since Kathy Hochul and her cohorts have, in the past, immediately proceeded to try a work-around to rulings they don’t like from the Supreme Court, it’s doubtful they will accept a ruling from the Department of Justice.  I expect they will try to enforce the ban on 18 to 20 year olds on some pretext, necessitating more court cases for N Y Attorney General Letitia James to defend.