Department of Justice Fails to Seek U.S. Supreme Court Review in Reese v. ATF, Allowing Reckless Fifth Circuit Decision Permitting Handgun Sales to Individuals Under 21 to Stand

NEW YORK – Today, the Department of Justice failed to seek Supreme Court review to fight the Fifth Circuit’s reckless ruling in Reese v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, which held unconstitutional the life-saving federal law prohibiting individuals under the age of 21 from purchasing handguns from licensed dealers. 

“We’re dismayed by the Department of Justice’s apparent decision not to seek Supreme Court review in Reese v. ATF, despite a clear circuit court split on the merits of the law regarding handgun sales to individuals under 21. The federal government has a duty to vigorously defend this vital and constitutional law. Any other choice is without justification – and puts all of us at risk,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director at Everytown Law. “Firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teens, and 18-to-20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 and over. We continue to support the constitutionality of this common sense law, and hope the issue makes its way to the Supreme Court quickly.”

The DOJ allowed the deadline to seek certiorari to lapse, just weeks after the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejected a similar challenge to the same federal law in question, ruling the age restriction constitutional in a major win for gun safety. Everytown filed amicus briefs in both the Fourth and Fifth Circuits arguing that the federal restrictions are constitutional under the approach to Second Amendment cases set out in New York Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. More on the constitutionality of firearm purchasing age restrictions can be found here. 

Research shows that 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults 21 years and older. Firearms are the leading cause of death for young people ages 18 to 20, and the firearm suicide rate among this group has increased 31% in the last decade. What’s more, a new JAMA Pediatrics report found that “permissive firearm laws contributed to thousands of excess firearm deaths among children living in states with permissive policies” in the years since the Supreme Court allowed Second Amendment challenges to state gun laws.

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