The Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a federal appeals court ruling that had struck down Pennsylvania’s ban on 18-20-year-olds carrying firearms during emergencies.
In an order without comment, the justices said the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals must reexamine the legal battle under the justices’ recent Second Amendment precedent in United States v. Rahimi from earlier this year.
In Rahimi, the justices said it’s lawful to disarm someone deemed dangerous without infringing on the Second Amendment. The dispute centered on taking firearms away from people under domestic violence restraining orders.
The appeals court in the dispute had ruled that Pennsylvania’s law banning anyone under 21 from openly carrying a firearm during a state of emergency was unlawful, citing a Supreme Court decision from 2022.
That year, the conservative majority ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen that any gun control law must comply with the nation’s history and tradition.
The 2022 precedent has left lower courts grappling with how to locate equivalent historical analogs in their attempts to uphold challenged gun regulations.
Minnesota, Texas and Virginia have seen courts strike down gun laws following the 2022 decision, including on age restrictions, according to The Associated Press.
Like Washington and 31 other states, Pennsylvania requires firearm carriers to be at least 21.
But a group of Second Amendment advocates argued the state’s law prohibiting 18-20-year-olds from carrying during a state of emergency ran afoul of the Second Amendment.
The appeals court had ruled the state officials failed to point to any Founding era regulation to support the law banning those under 21 from carrying.
The Supreme Court’s Tuesday order undoes that decision, sending the dispute back for further review in the lower court.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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