FPC and NRA Challenge Pennsylvania’s Under-21 Gun Carry Ban After Court Defeat
Pennsylvania has already lost a major Second Amendment battle over the rights of 18-to-20-year-old adults, but the state continues to enforce a law that prevents those same adults from obtaining a license to carry firearms. Now, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and National Rifle Association (NRA) are back in federal court, demanding an immediate end to Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional age restriction.
On November 2, 2026, FPC and the NRA filed a motion for a preliminary injunction or, alternatively, summary judgment in Maines v. Bethel, asking the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to block the state’s prohibition on issuing carry licenses to adults under 21. The motion follows an October 29 lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania’s continued refusal to recognize the full Second Amendment rights of otherwise law-abiding young adults.
The case presents a straightforward constitutional question: How can Pennsylvania continue denying carry licenses to 18-to-20-year-olds when a federal appeals court has already ruled that those adults are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment?
Pennsylvania’s Carry Ban Makes Young Adults Second-Class Citizens
Under 18 Pa.C.S. § 6109(b), only individuals 21 or older may apply for a Pennsylvania license to carry firearms. That restriction has serious consequences because state law generally requires a license to carry a concealed firearm, carry a firearm in a vehicle, or carry openly or concealed on Philadelphia’s public streets.
Although Pennsylvania generally permits unlicensed open carry outside Philadelphia, that right becomes considerably less useful when an adult cannot lawfully carry a handgun in a vehicle. For young adults who rely on a vehicle for work, school, shopping, or other everyday activities, Pennsylvania’s licensing restriction creates substantial obstacles to exercising their constitutional right to armed self-defense.
The lawsuit was brought by Philadelphia resident Daniel Maines, FPC, and the NRA against Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner George L. Bivens.
According to the October 29 complaint, Maines is between 18 and 20 years old, legally eligible to possess and acquire firearms, and has no criminal record. He wants to carry a handgun for self-defense, including while traveling in a vehicle and throughout Philadelphia. He is also a member of both organizations bringing the lawsuit.
Maines can vote, enter contracts, marry, and enlist in the military. Pennsylvania nevertheless refuses to allow him to apply for a carry license solely because he has not reached his 21st birthday. The state has effectively created two classes of legal adults, granting one the ability to exercise its right to carry while denying that same opportunity to the other.
The consequences are not limited to a rejected permit application. Carrying a firearm without the required license can expose an individual to criminal prosecution, including felony charges under certain circumstances. The restriction also intersects with the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, which generally prohibits firearm possession within 1,000 feet of school grounds unless an applicable exception applies. By denying carry licenses to younger adults, Pennsylvania also prevents them from qualifying for the federal law’s state-license exception.
Pennsylvania Already Lost This Fight in the Third Circuit
The new lawsuit builds directly on FPC’s earlier victory in Lara v. Commissioner Pennsylvania State Police, a case challenging Pennsylvania’s prohibition on open carry by 18-to-20-year-olds during declared states of emergency.
In January 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reaffirmed its ruling that young adults are protected by the Second Amendment and that Pennsylvania had failed to establish a historical tradition justifying the challenged age-based restriction. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Pennsylvania’s petition for review on June 30, 2026, leaving the appellate court’s decision in place.
The Third Circuit recognized that 18-to-20-year-olds are presumptively included among “the people” whose rights the Second Amendment protects. That finding is central to the new lawsuit. While Lara addressed a different carry restriction, FPC and the NRA argue that its constitutional reasoning leaves Pennsylvania without a legitimate historical justification for continuing to deny carry licenses to otherwise eligible adults under 21.
The historical record presents another problem for Pennsylvania. At the Founding, young men were expected to possess arms and participate in militia service. The federal Militia Act of 1792 required eligible men beginning at age 18 to enroll in the militia and equip themselves with firearms. Yet Pennsylvania now insists that adults of the same age cannot even apply for permission to carry a handgun for personal protection.
Under the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the government must demonstrate that a restriction on conduct protected by the Second Amendment is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The Third Circuit’s decision in Lara identified no founding-era statute restricting the freedom of 18-to-20-year-olds to carry firearms.
Pennsylvania cannot simply disregard that history because lawmakers prefer a different minimum age. Constitutional rights are not privileges that the government gets to distribute according to its own preferences.
FPC and NRA Demand Immediate Relief
FPC President Brandon Combs made clear that the organization has no intention of allowing Pennsylvania to continue enforcing the restriction while another lengthy legal battle unfolds.
“Pennsylvania has already lost this constitutional fight twice in the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court refused to bail it out,” Combs said in FPC’s November 2 announcement.
Combs also condemned the legal consequences facing young adults who attempt to exercise their constitutional rights without a license the state refuses to issue.
“That’s not a technicality. It’s an immoral, government-created trap that threatens Americans with prison for exercising their rights.”
The plaintiffs are asking the district court to issue a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the challenged age requirement while the case proceeds. Alternatively, they want summary judgment in their favor, arguing that the governing constitutional principles have already been established and that another prolonged legal fight is unnecessary.
The lawsuit also reflects a broader effort to dismantle age-based restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. In Worth v. Jacobson, the Eighth Circuit struck down Minnesota’s prohibition on issuing carry permits to 18-to-20-year-olds. In Reese v. ATF, the Fifth Circuit rejected the federal government’s prohibition on licensed firearm dealers selling handguns to adults under 21. Both decisions reinforce the growing judicial rejection of laws that treat otherwise eligible young adults as second-class citizens when it comes to the Second Amendment.
Firearms Policy Coalition
Pennsylvania’s carry-license restriction is another example of government officials treating the exercise of an enumerated constitutional right as a privilege that begins whenever lawmakers decide it should. The Third Circuit has already recognized that 18-to-20-year-olds are protected by the Second Amendment. The remaining question is whether Pennsylvania can continue denying those adults a practical means of exercising their right to carry firearms for self-defense.
An American does not become a member of “the people” on his 21st birthday. The right to keep and bear arms belongs to legal adults at 18, and Pennsylvania has no constitutional authority to withhold that right for another three years.
The case is Maines v. Bethel, No. 2:26-cv-08301-CMR, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
About Duncan Johnson:
Duncan Johnson is a lifelong firearms enthusiast and unwavering defender of the Second Amendment—where “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. A graduate of George Mason University, he enjoys competing in local USPSA and multi-gun competitions whenever he’s not covering the latest in gun rights and firearm policy. Duncan is a regular contributor and editor-in-chief for AmmoLand News and is responsible for AmmoLand’s daily gun-rights reporting and industry coverage.