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Appeals Court Upholds CO Law Raising Gun-Buying Age To 21

Crime and Justice News

If you’re buying or selling a gun in Colorado, make sure you’re over 21. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit revived a state law that raises the minimum legal age to purchase a gun to 21 years old, ruling that the law does not violate the Second Amendment and withstands the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial Bruen test. In the court’s majority opinion reversing a lower court’s injunction, Circuit Judge Richard Federico wrote that the necessity of some kind of age requirement was widely accepted. “After all, no one is reasonably arguing that 8-year-olds should be allowed to purchase guns,” he wrote. The Colorado General Assembly passed the law requiring citizens to be 21 years old to buy and sell firearms early last year, reports Courthouse News Service.


The plaintiffs — zero-compromise Second Amendment advocacy group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and two individuals, Adrian Pineda and Tate Mosgrove — sued Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in April 2023, claiming the law infringed on their Second Amendment rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer issued a preliminary injunction that blocked the law from going into effect on Aug. 7, 2023. Until now, the law has remained unenforced. In the majority opinion, Federico relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which recommends looking to history for guidance on gun laws and established a two-step test for determining if a gun law is constitutional. In a concurring opinion, Judge Carolyn McHugh agreed with the overall decision that there was historical evidence that gun laws restricting ownership below 21 were longstanding.

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