Florida Appeals Court Strikes Down Age Ban on Concealed Carry

A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that the state's ban on concealed carry by adults ages 18 to 20 violates the Second Amendment.

In a unanimous opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeal said 18-year-olds can serve in the military but face limits on the same self-defense rights available to older adults.

"Eighteen- to 20-year-olds can defend the country without restriction but can only utilize their Second Amendment right to self-defense with severe restrictions," Judge Spencer D. Levine wrote for the three-judge panel.

"Restricting 18- to 20-year-olds — members of the same 'political community' as other law-abiding adults — from rights to self-defense would make the Second Amendment a 'second-class' right," Levine wrote.

The ruling follows a decision by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier not to defend the law. Uthmeier said the court agreed with the state's position that the restriction is unconstitutional. He added that the office will not seek further review and will work with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to carry out the order.

The case began with the 2024 arrest of Jaylen Eubanks, who was 18 at the time. Officers responding to a report of a person displaying a handgun detained Eubanks and found an unholstered firearm on his waist. He was charged with carrying a concealed firearm and improper exhibition of a firearm.

Eubanks challenged the concealed-carry charge, arguing the age restriction violated the Second Amendment. The restriction was enacted after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 people were killed. A trial court rejected Eubanks' argument, but the appeals court reversed.

Citing Supreme Court rulings in Heller, Bruen and Rahimi, the panel said adults ages 18 to 20 are among "the people" protected by the Second Amendment and that Florida did not identify a historical tradition supporting the restriction.

The court also noted founding-era militia laws that required many 18-year-old men to serve while bearing arms. It rejected arguments that concerns about firearm misuse among younger adults justified the restriction, saying adults ages 18 to 20 could not be treated like categories historically subject to limits, such as felons or the mentally ill.

The court reversed Eubanks' concealed-carry conviction and sent the case back for further proceedings.