By Staff Report
A Broward County circuit judge has ruled that Florida’s law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from carrying concealed firearms violates the Second Amendment, marking the latest development in ongoing gun-rights litigation across the state.
In a nine-page decision, Judge Frank Ledee found that the law “strips a class of legal adults of their ability to exercise the very right the Constitution guarantees.” The ruling applies specifically to the case of Joel Walkes, a 19-year-old arrested in March after a police officer saw a gun in his waistband. Ledee dismissed Walkes’ felony charge, ruling the statute unconstitutional as applied in his case.
Citing recent U.S. Supreme Court precedents that emphasize the “historical tradition” test for firearm restrictions, Ledee said the state failed to identify any Founding-era laws that broadly banned young adults from carrying firearms. “The state also failed to cite to any historical regulation imposing a burden or justification comparable to Florida’s concealed carry ban,” Ledee wrote.
The decision comes amid mounting challenges to Florida’s gun regulations. In September, the 1st District Court of Appeal struck down the state’s long-standing open carry ban as unconstitutional. Attorney General James Uthmeier subsequently directed law enforcement not to arrest or prosecute law-abiding citizens openly carrying firearms, calling the ruling “the law of the state.”
Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association continues to fight Florida’s 2018 law raising the minimum age to purchase long guns from 18 to 21 — legislation enacted after the Parkland school shooting that killed 17 people. While lower courts upheld the restriction, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to take up the case this term.
Friday’s ruling affects only Walkes’ case but could open the door for broader challenges. The decision has not yet been posted on the court’s website but was first reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel and the J.A.A.B. Blog.
WMBB