The National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun rights advocates have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s minimum age requirement of 21 to obtain a license to carry a firearm.

According to a statement on the NRA’s website, the Firearms Policy Coalition and 18-year-old Daniel Maines of Philadelphia are also listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They are seeking a declaration that the age restriction is unconstitutional and a court order preventing its enforcement.

From their website:

Pennsylvania generally requires a license to carry a firearm concealed or in a vehicle. A license is also required to carry a firearm in any manner in Philadelphia and to be exempt from the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act’s ban on carrying within 1,000 feet of school grounds. Adults under 21, however, are categorically ineligible to apply for or obtain a license under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109(b).

In NYSRPA v. Bruen, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right of all Americans to carry firearms in public for self-defense. And the Third Circuit held in Lara v. Commissioner Pennsylvania State Police that 18-to-20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment and that another Pennsylvania age-based restriction on their right to carry was inconsistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Pennsylvania’s licensing scheme likewise violates the Second Amendment by denying law-abiding 18-to-20-year-old adults their general right to public carry.

The lawsuit claims that 18- to 20-year-olds are “defenseless in the Commonwealth’s most violent city” and names Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner George Bivens as defendants.

Philadelphia is the only city in Pennsylvania that requires a permit to carry a gun.

The lawsuit is below:

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