On February 14, a high-profile coalition of Second Amendment rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’s ban on possessing or carrying handguns and semiautomatic firearms for adults aged 18-20-years-old.
The complaint, known as Escher v. Noble, was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The suit includes a private individual, Mack Escher, along with Gun Owners’ Action League, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association of America, and Gun Owners of America, Inc.
“Adults between the ages of 18 and 20 are part of ‘the people,’ and there is no historical tradition of limiting the firearms rights of adults on account of their age,” states the complaint.
The complaint also notes that with regard to the firearms Massachusetts forbids young adults from owning and carrying, “…there can be no dispute that they qualify as ‘arms’ within the ‘plain text’ meaning of the Second Amendment. Handguns and semiautomatic firearms are, in fact, the most popular types of firearms in the country today, and there is no Founding-era historical tradition of banning commonly owned firearms.”
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against another similar law being challenged in Louisiana District Court, indicating this type of infringement is ripe for legal action with potential positive outcomes.
“We are proud to take on another immoral, age-based ban and look forward to eliminating these laws throughout the United States,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “As the federal government and other states have found out in our litigation, this Unconstitutional gun control scheme cannot survive scrutiny.”
