Kramer Levin Files Amicus Brief for Everytown for Gun Safety in Support of Federal Age-Based Firearms Restrictions

On Feb. 19, 2020, Kramer Levin filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on behalf of its client Everytown for Gun Safety in Hirschfeld v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a case involving a Second Amendment challenge to long-standing federal age-based restrictions on the sale of handguns or handgun ammunition. Everytown is the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, with nearly 6 million supporters in all 50 states, fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and help save lives.

Our brief supports the position of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is defending the challenged federal statute, enacted in 1968, and implementing regulations that require a person to be 21 years old to buy a handgun or ammunition for a handgun from a federally licensed firearms dealer. The plaintiffs in the case, who seek declaratory and injunctive relief, claim that the law (1) unconstitutionally infringes on the Second Amendment rights of persons between the ages of 18 and 21 and (2) unconstitutionally violates their equal protection rights under the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs’ challenge to the federal statutory scheme is one of several lawsuits that have been filed in federal and state courts around the country, arguing that similar statutes regulating the sale or transfer of firearms to persons under 21 years old are unconstitutional. 

Kramer Levin recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on behalf of Everytown for Gun Safety in NRA v. Swearingen, supporting the constitutionality of a similar state law in Florida.

Our brief provides the Hirschfeld court with analysis of state firearms laws that represent the reasoned judgment of numerous legislatures and underscore the prevalence of firearms restrictions on those between the ages of 18 and 21 years old. These state laws support the constitutionality of the challenged federal firearms restrictions.

First, we discuss the Supreme Court’s practice of considering state legislation in deciding the constitutionality of federal laws and the practice of federal courts looking to state firearms laws in evaluating Second Amendment challenges to federal firearms regulations.

Second, we show that like the federal government, states across the country impose a variety of regulations on those under 21 seeking to possess, purchase or carry firearms. There is a consensus legislative judgment that these kinds of laws are necessary to protect public safety.  Nineteen states –– including some of the most populous in the country –– and the District of Columbia have joined the federal government in prohibiting gun dealers from transferring firearms to those under the age of 21. Several states prohibit altogether firearms possession by those under the age of 21. In addition, a majority of states set 21 as the minimum age to carry a concealed firearm in public. This consensus across states is instructive and supports the constitutionality of the challenged federal age-based restrictions.

The Kramer Levin team included Litigation partner Darren LaVerne, special counsel Karen Steinberg Kennedy, associate Jessica K. Weigel, law clerk Daniel Burton Kugler and paralegal Angela Chan.

Read the brief here.