Delaware Pushes to Keep Under-21 Gun Ban Challenge on Hold

Delaware is still fighting to defend HB 451, the state law written to prohibit most adults ages 18 to 20 from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling firearms and ammunition, with limited exceptions.

In Birney v. Delaware Department of Safety and Homeland Security, the state is asking a federal judge to keep the case on hold while related state-court proceedings continue. The latest filing also tries to work around Lara v. Commissioner Pennsylvania State Police, the Third Circuit ruling recognizing Second Amendment rights for adults under 21.

Delaware’s position is that Lara involved public carry, while Birney challenges buying and possessing firearms. That is a thin line. A right to keep and bear arms does not mean much if the government can block a legal adult from acquiring or possessing the firearm in the first place.

This is not a minor age-policy debate. At 18, Americans can work, pay taxes, enlist, marry, sign contracts, and be held fully responsible under criminal law. If they are part of “the people” when the government wants obligations from them, they are part of “the people” when constitutional rights are on the table.

Courts should deal with that question directly. Kicking the can keeps a bad law alive by delay, and delay is one of the oldest tricks in the gun-control playbook.