National Rifle Association v. Bureau of Alc
Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · No. 11-10959
👎Unfavorable to gun rights
Upheld the federal ban on dealer handgun sales to 18-to-20-year-olds.
GunMapUSA assessment of the outcome's direction, not a statement that the court decided rightly or wrongly.
What the court held
The NRA and several 18-to-20-year-olds challenged 18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) and implementing regulations, which bar federally licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under 21, as violating the Second Amendment and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the government, holding the age-based sales restriction survives intermediate scrutiny because it reasonably fits Congress's objective of curbing violent crime associated with handgun trafficking to young adults. It also rejected the equal protection claim, since age is not a suspect classification and the classification is rationally related to a legitimate interest.
Summarized from the court's opinion.
What this case is about
constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1) barring licensed dealers from selling handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds
GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.
Key Dates
- 2013-04-29 — Decided
Sources
- CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08
Summary of public court records. Not legal advice.