Look, I run a gun shop. I've seen the looks on young adults' faces when they learn they can't buy a firearm because of their age. It's not just frustrating — it's un-American. And Delaware is fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way.
The state is trying to keep a federal lawsuit on hold while they appeal a Delaware Superior Court ruling that already found their under-21 gun ban unconstitutional. Here's the thing: a state judge already told them their law violates the Delaware Constitution. But instead of accepting defeat, Delaware wants to drag this out and hope something sticks.
Their latest argument is pretty thin. They're saying the Third Circuit's Lara decision — which already ruled that adults under 21 have Second Amendment rights — doesn't apply because that case was about carrying firearms, not buying them. Seriously? You can't carry what you can't buy, and you can't keep what the government says you can't have. That's not a loophole, that's common sense.
The Third Circuit was clear: 18-to-20-year-olds are "the people" protected by the Second Amendment. Founding-era militia laws actually required young men to own arms and report for duty. These weren't prohibited classes — they were expected to be armed citizens.
Delaware wants you to look at other circuit courts that upheld age restrictions, and they're pointing to Supreme Court denials of certiorari as some kind of endorsement. But a denial to hear a case isn't a ruling on the merits. It's just the Court saying "we're not taking this one right now." Meanwhile, the Fifth Circuit in Reese v. ATF actually struck down a federal ban on selling handguns to adults under 21, saying the right to keep and bear arms "surely implies the right to purchase them."
The state's whole strategy is delay and distraction. Keep the federal case frozen, hope they can confine Lara to the narrowest possible reading, and pray nobody notices that history doesn't support treating 20-year-olds as second-class citizens when it comes to gun rights.
Here's what I tell my customers: if you're old enough to vote, sign a contract, serve on a jury, or join the military, you're old enough to buy a firearm. That's what "the people" means. It's not a mystery.
The judge hasn't ruled yet on whether to keep the case stayed. But whatever happens, the writing is on the wall. These age-based bans don't hold up under constitutional scrutiny, and the only thing keeping them alive is politics and wishful thinking.