Texas has been one of the biggest proponents of the second amendment, especially in recent years. It has been one of the heads setting the precedent for constitutional carry. The state has now done it again with a New Texas LTC Ruling after a federal district court case involving the Firearms Policy Coalition. The new ruling in Texas sets some new parameters the state must now follow regarding the distribution of LTCs among those between the ages of 18-20 years old. Here is everything you need to know about the Texas Federal district court ruling.
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What is the Firearms Policy Coalition in New Texas LTC Ruling?
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of fundamental liberties, especially the second amendment. To that end, the FPC dashes into the legal fray, taking any opportunity to advance the fundamental right to bear arms through education, legal efforts, and other programs. The FPC has been one of the main proponents in the fight for the second amendment alongside the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Calguns Foundation.
According to the FPC, its founding was based on” the philosophical principles of natural rights. Among them is the belief that how a government or society regulates the right to keep and bear arms is a strong and likely leading indicator of how that government or society does or will approach regulation of other natural rights and personal property.”
With the second amendment under constant attack from federal and state governments, from state bans on magazine capacity, the mitigation of due process on the back of drastic government overreach, or the unfair rulings of the ATF set to criminalize law-abiding citizens, the FPC has pushed hard against unfair gun legislation since its founding in 2013.
“With congress typically unable to agree whether the sky is blue most days, the most acute threat to the second amendment today comes from the executive overreach from the administrative agencies.”
-Adam Kraut, Firearms Policy Coalition Vice President of Programs
What is Firearms Policy Coalition v McCraw?
For some background information, it was Governor Greg Abbot who signed the law that would allow Texas residents over the age of 21 to carry a handgun without a permit. However, while this seemed like a step in the right direction, adults from ages 18 to 20 were still banned by state law from legally carrying in public. The court case in question: Firearms Policy Coalition v McCraw recently set the deciding precedent in Texas state law with a new ruling allowing 18-20-year-olds in the state to carry/conceal without a permit.
“This decision is a significant victory for the rights of young adults in Texas and demonstrates for the rest of the nation that similar bans cannot withstand constitutional challenges grounded in history,” said Cody Wisniewski, FPC senior attorney.
“Texas cannot point to a single Founding Era law that prohibited 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying a functional firearm for self-defense, because not only did no such law exist, but those individuals are an important reason why we have a Bill of Rights in the first place,” said Wisniewski, “The typical age of individuals that went to war with the British for our Independence was between 17 and 20 years old. And young people have just as much a right to keep and bear arms in public as adults over the age of 21.
This decision is a significant victory for the rights of young adults in Texas and demonstrates to the rest of the nation that similar bans cannot withstand constitutional challenges grounded in history, as Bruen and Heller require. We look forward to restoring the right to keep and bear arms throughout the United States in the coming months and years.”
The plaintiffs, as well as the FPC filed the suit in November of 2021, headed off in the final ruling in December of 2022, after a long legal battle secured the victory for Texas young adults.
With inspiration taken from the NYSRPA v Bruen in mid-2022, the decision primarily sought to overturn the requirement of “justifiable need” to conceal carry states and solidified that the Second Amendment allowed citizens the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense purposes.
Further established in the decision was that federal judiciaries must incorporate a “history-only” approach in the review of firearm laws, meaning that gun legislation must adhere to the legislation set in place when the second amendment was ratified. This is the idea that carried over to the FPC v McCraw case, in which the Second Amendment poses no age restrictions on the right to bear arms.
“To start, the Second Amendment does not mention any sort of age restriction,” Pittman wrote in his decision. “This absence is notable — when the Framers meant to impose age restrictions, they did so expressly.”
An Injunction was held that stayed the court decision for 30 days, to allow the state of Texas, represented by Steve McCraw, time to appeal and seek a stay. “Though Plaintiffs’ interest in the vindication of their Constitutional rights suffers while the judgment stays, the stay is necessary to militate the possible negative effects of relying on the injunction while it is subject to appellate review and possible reversal,” the Court said.
In the end, the decision was as follows, signed by Judge Mark Pittman:
Accordingly, the Court ORDERS that:
1. To the extent that Texas’s statutory scheme, TEX. PENAL CODE § 46.02(a) and TEX. GOV’T CODE §§ 411.172(a)(2), (g), (h), (i), prohibits law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying handguns for self-defense outside the home based solely on their age, this statutory scheme violates the Second Amendment, as incorporated against the States via the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Defendants and all their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and other persons who are in active concert or participation with them are hereby ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from enforcing Texas’s statutory scheme against law-abiding 18-to-20-year-olds based solely on their age.
3. This injunction is hereby STAYED for thirty days, or pending appeal, for the duration of the appellate process.
Can 18-year-olds carry without a permit in Texas?
Yes. Adults from ages 18 to 20 are permitted to carry without a permit according to the ruling brought about by Firearms Policy Coalition v McCraw. The court case concluded that the Constitution did not set age restrictions on the second amendment, and therefore cannot pose such restrictions on firearms legislation hence. This precedent was brought about by a previous court case: NYSRPA v Bruen which stipulated that citizens were permitted to carry firearms in public for the purpose of self-defense. This case also overturned the requirement of justifiable need for the issuance of concealed carry permits.
Previously, Texas state law held that a person 18-20 years old could be issued a license granted they were on active duty or honorably discharged from the armed forces. In some regard, enforcement of the ban against 18-20-year-old holding licenses was not enforced previously, however, the ruling has solidified any question in regard to the ability of Texas young adults from the ages to apply for LTC licenses.
The precedent set by NYSRPA v Bruen aided in the decision in FPC v McCraw by solidifying that American citizens were permitted to carry according to the Constitution. As it is a right for all citizens, the previous Texas law put in place by Governor Abbot did not incorporate the whole of Texas residents who are US citizens, in that those from ages 18-20 were excluded from the constitutional carry law that only allowed those who were 21 and up.
The court decision also set a new precedent for how future laws must be made. The fact that future gun legislation must be looked at with a “history-only” standard will make future attempts at gun control based on age more difficult because the precedent set at the time the second amendment was created did not explicitly prohibit young adults from owning and operating firearms.
In fact, one of the key arguments of the plaintiffs expressed the overwhelming number of 18-20-year-old soldiers who fought in the American Revolution and were issued firearms when the Second Amendment was being ratified. Furthermore, the argument for the final decision was supported by the idea that the founding fathers expressly and specifically added age restrictions to certain pieces of legislation. This historical precedent strengthened the support for the court’s decision to allow 18-20-year-olds to carry without permits because the argument can be made that age restrictions were purposefully not added to the second amendment by the Founding Fathers.
That being said, the federal district court ruling has done so much more than simply allow Texas residents from 18-20 years to carry with an LTC, but has set a precedent for future legislation of firearms. Now, 18-20-year-olds may seek to apply for an LTC within the state of Texas without questioning by the state Government. The ability to both carry and conceal is now open to young adults in Texas.
Conclusion
The new federal district court ruling has set a new precedent for the availability of 18-20 year olds to apply for LTC licenses in the state of Texas. This was done, in heavy part, due to the aid of the Firearms Policy Coalition which is known for its frontline struggle against the negative effects of gun control and the preservation of the Second Amendment. With such a win, not only as to secure the right to bear arms from young adults in the state of Texas, but to set a new precedent based on the historical context of the constitution and the nature of its writing by the Founding Fathers, future attempts at gun control legislation based on age will be strongly defended against.
Here at Conceal carry Academy, we offer our students the best resources to get their concealed carry/ License to Carry permit. This new court ruling brings lots of promise for the future of Gun ownership in the state of Texas as well as the United States as a whole. We welcome all newcomers ready to take their second amendment rights to the forefront of their lifestyle. Join us today for an amazing License to Carry Class you won’t find anywhere else!
When you’re ready to get your Texas License to Carry (LTC), make sure you choose a premier training provider. Conceal Carry Academy and LTC Training Texas are committed to offering the best firearms training possible. When they need information on firearms safety or they want to take a Texas LTC class, gun owners trust the expertise of the pros from Conceal Carry Academy. If you have questions about any aspect of gun ownership in Texas, contact us today!
