Adults Under 21 Could Soon Be Allowed To Carry Handguns

AUSTIN, Texas — Adults under 21 could soon be allowed to carry handguns. A federal judge, Mark Pittman, recently struck down a Texas law that barred 18- to 20-year-olds from getting a license to carry a handgun, or carrying a handgun outside of their home.

He said it was inconsistent with the Second Amendment.

In the opinion, Judge Pittman wrote, “the Second Amendment protects against this prohibition. Texas’ statutory scheme must therefore be enjoined to the extent that law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds are prohibited from applying for a license to carry a handgun.”

Right now, it’s still illegal for young adults to purchase a handgun. There’s no current change to the law. The ruling would go into effect on Sept. 24 if there’s no appeal from a higher court.

“What this decision does is open up the possibility that the next shooter could be somebody under the age of 21 and could carry a concealed weapon outside the home. And that wouldn’t be illegal in that situation until the person started shooting,” said David Pucino, the Deputy Chief Counsel for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Pucino added that he’s worried that the judge focused on politics instead of the law.

“In the same ways that extremist gun views have corrupted your political process, we’re now seeing that same corruption in our judiciary,” Pucino said. “We’re seeing decisions made by unaccountable judges that are contrary to the law… There’s this precedent under this circuit that you can have these kinds of restrictions on people who are 18, 19, 20-years-old, precisely because they are at heightened risk of engaging in this kind of violence, and also not-for-nothing of being victims of this kind of violence.”

Wes Virdell, the Texas State Director for Gun Owners of America, supports the ruling.

“I think [Judge Pittman] expressed it well, saying the Constitution didn’t put an age requirement on the Second Amendment,” Virdell said. “And as far as adulthood, we recognize adulthood at 18 years old. We’re allowed to vote at 18. We’re allowed to join the military at 18. I think that it matches the Constitution.”

Gun Owners of America is a “no compromise” gun lobby. Its mission is to defend the Second Amendment.

“We may take some hard stances that are unpopular sometimes, but we still want to stand by the Constitution as it’s written,” Virdell said.

Virdell doesn’t think Judge Pittman’s ruling will be appealed before Sept. 24.

“I see it becoming law,” he said.

Virdell doesn’t believe the privilege of carrying a handgun will be granted to Texans younger than 18. Pucino isn’t so sure.

“I do think it’s a really troubling precedent,” Pucino said. “The age of majority in this country was 21 for most of the country’s history, and to move that age to 18 is a relatively recent phenomenon. So having age restrictions from 18 to 21 is really well grounded in history... Now, the judge there has ignored that long history, and it struck down this portion of the law. I think it’s right to ask what the limiting principle is, if the judge isn’t going to be looking to history?”

Pucino noted that research from the Giffords Law Center shows that states with strong gun laws have less violence.

“Texas, by weakening its laws, is really putting its residents at risk of increased violence,” Pucino said.

Virdell argues that with or without access to guns at a young age, bad people will still figure out a way to do bad things. And, it’s already legal for 18-year-olds to buy long guns in Texas.

“I don’t I don’t think that any of these laws are going to stop people from doing what they’re going to do,” Virdell said.

Follow Charlotte Scott on Facebook and Twitter.