Supreme Court orders reconsideration of appellate decision on youths carrying guns
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday told a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision that blocked a Pennsylvania ban on youths openly carrying guns during a state of emergency. (Image from Shutterstock)
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday told a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision that blocked a Pennsylvania ban on youths openly carrying guns during a state of emergency.
The high court vacated the decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Philadelphia and directed it to reconsider in light of U.S. v. Rahimi.
In the June Rahimi decision, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on gun possession by those who are subject to domestic-violence restraining orders.
The 3rd Circuit ruled in January that youths who are 18 to 20 years old are among the people protected by the Second Amendment, and they can’t be barred from openly carrying guns during a state of emergency.
Pennsylvania requires people carrying concealed firearms to be at least 21 years old and to have a license. Those who want to openly carry guns are generally allowed to do so. But in states of emergency, they must have a license, or they must qualify under other exceptions. The practical effect of those laws is to ban those who are 18 to 20 years old from openly carrying guns during states of emergency.
When the suit was filed, Pennsylvania had been in a state of emergency for nearly three years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid addiction crisis and Hurricane Ida.
CNN and Bloomberg Law have coverage of the Supreme Court’s order in the case, Paris v. Lara.
