Ninth Circuit Says California’s Ban on Selling Semi-Automatic Weapons to Adults Under 21 Unconstitutional

LOS ANGELES — A U.S. appeals court ruled on Wednesday that California’s ban on selling semi-automatic weapons to adults under 21 was unconstitutional.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, said Wednesday that the law violates the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and that a judge of San Diego should have blocked what he called “a near total ban on semi-automatic centerfire rifles” for young adults. “America would not exist without the heroism of young adults who fought and died in our Revolutionary Army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today, we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to own and bear arms.”

The Firearms Policy Coalition, which brought the case, says the decision makes them optimistic that other age-based gun bans will be overturned.

Attorney General Rob Bonta did not immediately comment.