The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has denied Pennsylvania’s petition for an en banc hearing over a challenge to a Commonwealth law banning the carrying of firearms by 18 to 20-year-old residents of the Key Stone State during a declared emergency.
The order denying the request reads: “The petition for rehearing filed by appellant in the above-entitled case having been submitted to the judges who participated in the decision of this Court and to all the other available circuit judges of the circuit in regular active service, and no judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing, and a majority of the judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petition for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc, is denied. Judge Restrepo, Judge Shwartz, Judge Krause, Judge Montgomery-Reeves, and Judge Chung voted to grant the petition for rehearing. Judge Krause would have granted rehearing and files the attached dissent sur denial of rehearing en banc.”
The Commonwealth sought an en banc review of Lara v. Paris. An en banc review means the three-judge panel’s decision would be vacated, and the whole bench would hear the case. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) brought the case to challenge the Keystone State’s gun law that tried to deprive those under 21 of their Second Amendment-protected right to keep and bear arms during a declared state of emergency. Pennsylvania tried to argue that “the people” referred to those over 21 and those under that age do not have gun rights.
Most court courts believe that “the people” are members of the political class. The political class consists of those who have reached the age of majority. Pennsylvania tried to argue that the age of majority during the founding era was 21. This accusation is technically true, but the militia laws from around the nation at the time of the ratification of the Second Amendment set the age to own a gun at 18 or below. Also, the judges acknowledged that the age of majority changes over time, and even if it were 21 at the founding, it wouldn’t impact their findings. The three-judge panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down.
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s Office filed the request for an en banc hearing, led by Republican Dave Sunday. Some claim that Mr. Sunday could not have known that an en banc request was being filed since he just took office last month, but Sunday could have withdrawn the request, but he chose not to. The choice could hurt his future political ambitions since he ran on a platform of protecting gun rights.
As of now, the law is dead. The panel’s decision will stand. The only step for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be to ask the Supreme Court to review the case or let the law stay dead. If Dave Sunday is truly pro-gun and just didn’t have time to withdraw the request for an en banc hearing, then he should have no issue with not filing the petition with SCOTUS. It will be telling if the AG’s office files for a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court. Dave Sunday’s political career might hang in the balance of whether to go to SCOTUS or not.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
