George Bivens, Acting Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police v. Second Amendment Foundation, et al.

The federal government and 32 states establish 21 as the minimum age for certain gun rights. Since United States v. Rahimi, five courts of appeals have considered whether these widespread laws violate the purported Second Amendment rights of 18-to-20-yearolds. Those Courts are sharply divided in both method and result. The Tenth and Eleventh Circuits held that restrictions on 18-to-20-year-olds are constitutional, relying on Founding-era common law principles that prevented anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing weapons. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners v. Polis, 121 F.4th 96 (10th Cir. 2024); Nat’l Rifle Ass’n v. Bondi, 133 F.4th 1108 (11th Cir. 2025) (en banc), cert. pending sub nom., Nat’l Rifle Ass’n v. Glass, 24-1185 (U.S.). Those courts also looked to post-enactment history to confirm their understanding of the Founding-era evidence. Ibid. But the Third, Fifth, and Eighth Circuits reached the opposite conclusion when examining the same history. App.1a-52a; Reese v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 127 F.4th 583 (5th Cir. 2025); Worth v. Jacobson, 108 F.4th 677 (8th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 24-782 (U.S.). This Court’s review is necessary to resolve this acknowledged split on an important, recurring issue. Law enforcement officials need clarity before the confusion deepens. The question presented is: Do firearms laws imposing a minimum age of 21 violate the purported Second Amendment rights of 18-to20-year-olds?