Handguns

By Josh Lanier From Daily Voice

Gun-rights advocates want a federal judge to toss out Massachusetts rules that block most young adults from buying or carrying pistols. The case could affect thousands of residents between the ages of 18 and 20.

The Second Amendment Foundation and several partners filed a motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the state’s limits on pistols for anyone younger than 21. In Massachusetts, 18-year-olds can get a firearm ID card, but it only allows them to own rifles and shotguns that are not large-capacity or semi-automatic.

This new filing says the law unjustly targets young people without justification.

“In no other context would the American people tolerate limiting the civil rights of adults based solely on their age,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut in a news release. “Denying adults under 21 years old the ability to possess a handgun – the quintessential firearm of choice for self-defense – is a clear violation of their Second Amendment rights.”

The case, Escher v. Noble, includes the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners’ Action League, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, and plaintiff Mack Escher. The lawsuit was filed earlier this year.