A Broward County circuit judge on Friday ruled that a state law prohibiting adults aged 18 to 20 from carrying concealed weapons violates the Second Amendment.
Judge Frank Ledee dismissed a felony charge against 19-year-old Joel Walkes, who was arrested in March after police spotted a semi-automatic pistol in his waistband.
In a nine-page ruling, Ledee stated that Florida’s ban “strips a class of legal adults of their ability to exercise the very right the Constitution guarantees,” concluding the state failed to identify historical Founding-era laws broadly prohibiting concealed carry by that age group.
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The ruling applies specifically to the concealed carry age limit and is separate from the more publicized state law, currently being challenged by the NRA, which bars people under 21 from purchasing rifles and other long guns.
This decision adds to a wave of recent legal challenges to Florida’s gun restrictions, including a September appellate ruling that deemed the state’s long-standing ban on openly carrying guns unconstitutional.
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