Well, folks, it's about time. The Department of Justice finally saw the light — adults between 18 and 20 have the same Second Amendment rights as everyone else.
On September 17th, the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel dropped a 49-page opinion that should make every gun shop owner and freedom-loving American smile. Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser concluded that the federal government can't throw licensed dealers in prison for selling handguns to law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds. Those sections of the Gun Control Act — 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) — are now officially on shaky constitutional ground.
Here's what really gets me: the Founders armed 18-year-olds! The historical record is absolutely devastating to this ban. Out of more than 250 colonial and early state militia laws, 249 of them required men between 18 and 20 to serve and provide their own weapons. The Militia Act of 1792 enrolled citizens starting at age 18 and required them to show up with a musket or rifle. The same generation that wrote "shall not be infringed" didn't see these young adults as some dangerous underclass that needed to be disarmed.
And let's talk about the 26th Amendment. At 18, you can vote, sign contracts, serve on juries, be tried as an adult in criminal court, and get drafted. But the government wants to tell you you're not mature enough to buy a handgun for self-defense? That's absurd.
The DOJ also properly buried the so-called "infancy doctrine" argument that gun-grabbers have been clinging to. That's the idea that because people under 21 were once considered legal minors for contract purposes, that somehow justifies prohibiting firearm sales. Nope. The infancy doctrine protected kids from shady merchants — it didn't criminalize firearm sales or threaten dealers with five years in federal prison. These are completely different things.
Now, here's the important part: this isn't a Supreme Court ruling — yet. The law is still on the books, and dealers should wait for ATF to update its guidance before changing how they do business. And remember, state laws are a separate issue. States like Michigan and Hawaii can still cause problems for young adults trying to exercise their rights.
But make no mistake — this is a massive shift. The federal government just admitted that 18-to-20-year-olds are part of "the people" protected by the Bill of Rights. Now let's keep pushing until this ban is fully repealed and every law-abiding adult can exercise their fundamental right to self-defense.