[20180313]LSB10098_政府能否禁止18岁儿童购买枪支？ .pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Can the Government Prohibit 18-Year-Olds from Purchasing Firearms? March 13, 2018 On March 9, 2018, Florida enacted new gun control legislation in the wake of a mass shooting at a Parkland high school by a 19-year-old former student. Shortly after the Florida measure was signed into law, the National Rifle Association (NRA) filed suit in federal court seeking to enjoin a provision of the Florida statute, which renders it a felony for a person under the age of 21 to purchase a firearm. The NRA contends that the provision is an unconstitutional infringement upon the rights of 18-to-20-year-olds to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment. Reviewing courts have held that some age-based restrictions on firearms purchases by persons under 21 are permissible, including federal restrictions on commercial dealers selling handguns to persons under 21 and juveniles under the age of 18 possessing a handgun. But Floridas blanket prohibition on 18-to-20-year-olds purchasing any firearm may go further than many measures that reviewing courts have previously upheld, raising the possibility that the NRAs