Caleb Reese, et al. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, et al.

Shreveport, Louisiana civil rights lawyers represented the Plaintiff who challenged the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1).



The Plaintiffs filed suit in the district court against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("ATF"), its Director, and the Attorney General of the United States, challenging the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1), and their attendant regulations, including 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.99(b), 478.124(a), and 478.96(b). These provisions, in effect, prohibit Federal Firearms Licensees ("FFLs") from selling or delivering handguns to adults under the age of twenty-one. Id. Appellants contend that the federal laws unconstitutionally infringe on their right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment and deny them equal protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.



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In 2021, the government moved to dismiss or for summary judgment, contending that Appellants lacked Article III standing and failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Appellants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. The district court found that Appellants had standing, but granted the government's motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6).



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Legal issue Does the prohibition against selling handguns to eighteen-to-twenty-year-old adults by Federal Firearms Licensees violate the Second Amendment?

Headnote



CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS. This case addresses whether federal statutes prohibiting Federal Firearms Licensees from selling handguns to adults aged eighteen to twenty-one violate the Second Amendment, based on historical analysis of firearm regulations.



CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT. The court examines whether the right to keep and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment, encompasses the right of eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds to purchase firearms, considering the historical context of firearm ownership and militia service.



CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF FIREARM REGULATION. The court determines the validity of age-based firearm purchase prohibitions by scrutinizing historical precedent and analogy to evaluate consistency with original public understanding of the Second Amendment.



CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. EQUAL PROTECTION AND DUE PROCESS CLAUSE. The court also evaluates whether the federal statutes infringe on equal protection and due process rights, although it primarily focuses on Second Amendment implications in this context.



Key Phrases Second Amendment challenge. Firearm regulations. Handgun purchase ban. Historical firearm tradition. Eighteen-to-twenty-year-olds' gun rights.

Reversed