Massachusetts High Court Takes on Under-21 Gun Bans

Wile the U.S. Supreme Court has been keeping almost a half-dozen cases dealing with whether or not adults under the age of 21 are fully vested with their Second Amendment in a holding pattern, the Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts will take up the issue in oral arguments today. 

Mikai Thomson, who was 20 when his car was stopped by police in Boston more than four years ago, was convicted of several charges including illegal possession of a firearm. Thomson and his public defender, however, have argued that the Massachusetts law forbidding under-21s from obtaining a license to carry (which is also a license to possess) violates his Second Amendment rights. 

“The Second Amendment encompasses Mr. Thomson’s possession of a firearm for self-defense outside of the home,” wrote his attorney Elizabeth Lazar in a filing to the SJC. She then quoted a portion of the text of the amendment: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Other portions of the Constitution, such as the rules governing voting, contain age restrictions, she noted, so the absence of them in the Second Amendment implies that it only applies to adults.

The case has the support of gun-rights advocates, as well as the Committee for Public Counsel Services.

The Suffolk district attorney’s office is arguing age restrictions are constitutional — and necessary. They cite how the brains of young people aren’t fully developed, and that federal and state laws on all manner of subjects routinely have age restrictions.

“The firearms licensure statute’s prohibition on persons under twenty-one is not a novel or overreaching infringement upon the right to bear arms,” Assistant District Attorney Ian MacLean wrote in a brief to the SJC. “Instead, it embodies a principle deeply rooted in this Nation’s history: the right to bear arms has always been subject to reasonable regulations where public safety demands it.”

Thomson may not be an ideal subject for a test case, given that police allegedly found a “large amount” of marijuana in the his vehicle during the traffic stop, but hopefully the SJC will be able to separate his other legal issues from the question before them. And if the seven justices truly look at the text of the Constitution and the national tradition of gun ownership in a fair light, I don’t think they have a difficult decision to make. Yes, some federal courts have ruled that, because under-21s were considered “minors” at the time of the Founding in terms of contract law, they can be considered minors today when it comes to their Second Amendment rights. 

At the time of the Founding many militia members were younger than 21, including Jonathan Harrington, who was just 16-years old when he and other members of the Lexington militia squared off against British troops early on the morning of April 19, 1775. And today there is no question that 18, 19, and 20-year olds are adults in the eyes of the law. Thomson wasn’t tried in juvenile court, after all. At 20, he was old enough to serve in the military, to get married, to serve on a jury, to enter into contracts, and yes, to be tried as an adult for his alleged offenses. 

Despite MacLean’s arguments, there is nothing reasonable about disregarding the individual rights of young adults. No one doubts that Thomson’s other enumerated rights are fully vested, and it’s both illogical and unreasonable to declare that his Second Amendment rights didn’t kick in until he was 21. As his public defender argues, the Second Amendment protects the right of “the people” to keep and bear arms, and at 20-years old there is no question that Thomson is part of the people. 

Now, this is Massachusetts we’re talking about, and the SJC could very well rule against Thomson given the leftward tilt of the justices. If they do so, though, they’ll be taking a stand in contradiction to the Constitution and to the history of the Commonwealth… and the U.S. Supreme Court will soon have another case dealing with under-21s and their Second Amendment rights to consider (or not). 

Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to lie about gun owners and the Second Amendment. 

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