Federal Court Strikes Down Minnesota Law Setting Handgun Age Limit at 21

A federal appeals court has declared Minnesota's law requiring individuals to be at least 21 years old to obtain a handgun permit unconstitutional. The court ruled that the age restriction violated the Second Amendment rights of 18- to 20-year-olds. This decision aligns with broader judicial trends expanding gun rights.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that a Minnesota law requiring individuals to be at least 21 years old before obtaining a permit to carry a handgun in public for self-defense is unconstitutional.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, sided with gun rights groups, finding that the state's age-based ban violated the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment, which protects the right to keep and bear arms. U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton, writing for the panel of three judges, noted that recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings expanding gun rights rendered the state's 2003 law invalid.

"Importantly, the Second Amendment's plain text does not have an age limit," Judge Benton wrote. The panel upheld a lower court's ruling in favor of the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which had challenged the law.