The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), alongside the New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate (NJFOS), has initiated a legal battle against the State of New Jersey, challenging its long-standing prohibition on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition to adults under the age of 21.
The federal lawsuit, Hague et al. v. Murphy et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The lawsuit argues that New Jersey’s statutory regime, which prevents law-abiding adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from purchasing, possessing, and carrying handguns for self-defense, is a direct infringement upon their Second Amendment rights. The plaintiffs contend that these young adults are considered part of “the People” protected by the Constitution and that there is no historical precedent for such age-based restrictions on firearm ownership.
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At the heart of the legal challenge are two key New Jersey statutes: N.J.S.A. 2C:58-6.1, which criminalizes the sale of handguns to individuals under 21, and N.J.S.A. 2C:58-3.3, which similarly restricts the sale of handgun ammunition.
“There is not, and never has been, a constitutionally grounded basis for depriving adults under 21 from owning or possessing handguns, period,” stated Adam Kraut, Executive Director of the Second Amendment Foundation, in a press release. “Adults 18-20-years-old are part of ‘the People’ and can exercise their full Second Amendment rights. Unfortunately, residents of this age group living in New Jersey are being selectively discriminated against solely based on their age, and we aim to rectify that.”
The lawsuit is named for Lily Hague, one of the individual plaintiffs who is directly affected by the state’s regulations. They are represented by attorneys Raymond M. DiGuiseppe of The DiGuiseppe Law Firm and Shannon Garrahan of the Law Offices of Shannon Garrahan.
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The complaint filed with the court asserts, “Simply no historical analogue exists for prohibiting adults under 21 from purchasing, acquiring, possessing, or carrying handguns nor for banning otherwise lawful commerce between dealers and adults under 21.” This argument leans heavily on the 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which established that firearm regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF’s founder and Executive Vice President, emphasized the national scope of their efforts. “New Jersey’s handgun and ammunition ban absolutely infringes on the Second Amendment rights of all resident adults under 21 in the state,” Gottlieb stated. “Each of our age-based lawsuits around the country have the same goal – restoring the rights of adults under 21 who have been disenfranchised by those who think they can trample on their Second Amendment rights purely based on their age.”
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This lawsuit is one of several similar challenges the Second Amendment Foundation has filed in various states, aiming to dismantle age-based restrictions on Second Amendment rights.
The office of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office have not yet issued a public statement regarding the lawsuit.
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