District Court Judge Mark Pittman said Texas’ restriction on “law-abiding 18- to 20-year-olds” was unconstitutional because the Second Amendment itself did not set an age limit and minors were part of the state’s formative militias. of American history. The case was brought by the gun rights nonprofit Firearms Policy Coalition, which has brought a handful of similar challenges against other states, including Pennsylvania and California. “Texas cannot point to a single founding-era law that prohibited 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying a functional firearm for self-defense, because not only was there no such law, but these individuals are a major reason why we have a Bill of Rights in principle,” said the coalition’s Senior Constitutional Affairs Attorney Cody J. Wisniewski. “And young people have the same right to keep and bear arms in public as adults over the age of 21.” Pittman’s decision cited the Supreme Court’s June decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, in which the Court struck down a New York law that placed restrictions on carrying concealed weapons outside the home. The Bruen decision opened up gun regulation laws to far more aggressive challenges, as it put at risk laws that bear no resemblance to historical gun regulation or attitudes toward firearms at the nation’s founding. In the decision, Justice Clarence Thomas changed the standard by which such laws must be reviewed, arguing that they must be “consistent with the historical tradition of this Nation” and “with the text and historical understanding of the Second Amendment.” The contested law prohibits anyone under 21 from carrying a gun in public, but the judge’s ruling did not bar the restrictions from applying to minors under 18. The state has 30 days to appeal before the ruling takes effect. CNN reached out to the Texas Attorney General’s office Thursday and did not immediately hear back. CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.
