The author writes that the state’s attorney “clutched her pearls and proclaimed that persons under the age of 25 are merely infants with underdeveloped brains, and so should not be allowed to possess firearms.”
That is a curious argument when 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds can vote, sign contracts, marry, serve in the military, sit on juries, and be prosecuted as adults. Apparently, they are adults for every responsibility of citizenship, but not for exercising a constitutional right.
There is really much to say about this case, DE Department of Safety and Homeland Security, et al. v. Birney, et al., or much doubt as to what the Delaware Supreme Court will decide. The only real question is what the decision will say, as well as what the dissent (if any) will say.
The Plaintiffs do not challenge the state’s ban on the possession of firearms by persons under 21 years of age as violating the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Their claim is that the law violates the Delaware Constitution.
A state law can violate the Federal Constitution while, at the same time, not violate a state constitution.
Article I, Section 20, of the Delaware state constitution was enacted in 1987. It states, “A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use.”
By Charles Nichols
