The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed their opening appellate brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in PWGG v. Bonta (formerly Jones v. Bonta), SAF’s challenge to California’s firearm purchase ban for adults under 21 years old.

Adults under the age of 21 in California are effectively banned from purchasing firearms, including semiautomatic centerfire rifles of any type. Originally filed in 2019, the lawsuit presents a simple yet profound question: May a peaceable citizen of this nation, legally dependent on no one but himself or herself for care and protection, nevertheless be deprived of the right to keep and bear arms on account of age? The protections codified by the Second Amendment say "no."

“California lawmakers believe they can vote away the fundamental rights of a subset of the adult population,” said SAF Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “But fortunately for all Americans, the rights codified in our Constitution are memorialized there to prevent precisely that sort of behavior. Imagine if you will, extending that capability to other fundamental rights. Perhaps the California legislature would prefer 19-year-olds not have free speech, or the right to be free from unreasonable search or seizure. Gun rights are not second-class rights, and their deprivation is no less egregious.”

SAF is joined in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition and California Gun Rights Foundation, along with two licensed firearms dealers and shooting ranges – Poway Weapons and Gear and North County Shooting Center.

As noted in the brief, “The Second Amendment’s plain text extends to cover the right of ‘the people to keep and bear arms.’ ‘The people’ encompasses, as the Supreme Court has already held, all Americans.”

“The purchase restrictions on 18-20-year-olds in California is nothing more than the normal fearmongering we expect out of the state,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The discriminatory practice of banning a certain age of adult from acquiring firearms in California is an affront to the peaceable citizens who wish to exercise their full Second Amendment rights. This case has dragged on long enough and it is past time for this issue to be resolved to allow adults of all ages in California to purchase firearms.”

For more information visit SAF.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.