Court Maintains Handgun Sales Ban

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Houston upheld a ban on the sale of handguns to people under the age of 21 on Thursday, in a major defeat for the NRA. The court ruled against the National Rifle Association, firearms dealers, and individuals who had argued that 18- to 20-year-olds had the right to buy handguns under the Second Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment. A unanimous three-judge panel ruled that the current law, passed in 1968, should stand, and added that the nation’s founders believed some groups could be disarmed without violating the right to bear arms.