MIAMI.– In a decision that shakes up Florida’s legal landscape, Broward County Circuit Judge Frank Ledee declared unconstitutional the state law prohibiting people between the ages of 18 and 20 from carrying concealed firearms.
The judge issued the ruling in the case against Joel Walkes III, a 19-year-old arrested for this reason, after concluding that the rule violates the Second Amendment under the new “historical tradition” standard of the United States Supreme Court.
Legal context
The case originated with the arrest of Joel Walkes III during a traffic stop in Plantation, Florida, where an officer found a concealed semi-automatic pistol.
Walkes was facing a third-degree felony charge. However, his defense directly challenged the constitutionality of the statute that sets the minimum age for concealed carry at 21.
Judge Ledee, in his nine-page ruling, argued that the law “strips a class of legal adults of their ability to exercise the same right that the Constitution guarantees.”
The basis for the decision lies in the test imposed by the Supreme Court in 2022, which requires the government to demonstrate that any gun regulation is consistent with the “nation’s historical tradition.”
Ledee said the state was unable to identify any law from the founding of the country that generally prohibited the concealed carrying of weapons by people between the ages of 18 and 20.
As an immediate result, charges against Walkes were dismissed.
Although the decision applies only to this case and does not set a binding precedent for other courts, it does establish “persuasive authority” that could influence future cases and pushes for an appeals court to establish a uniform state rule.
Complex legal landscape
Judge Ledee’s ruling fits into an increasingly complex and contradictory firearms legal environment in Florida.
Following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, the state Legislature passed a law that raised the minimum age to purchase any firearm to 21 years old.
However, in 2023, the state adopted “permitless carry,” which allows eligible citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a license, although it maintained the 21-year-old requirement.
This situation was further complicated when an appeals court in September overturned the state’s ban on open carry of weapons, a decision that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier immediately accepted.
The stance of the attorney general, who has declined to defend several of the state’s gun laws in court, creates a paradox: An 18-year-old could openly carry a gun he legally owns (for example, through a gift), but he cannot purchase it or, until this ruling, carry it concealed.
This tension between the judiciary and the laws enacted by the Legislature points to an inevitable intervention by higher courts to reconcile these conflicts, according to experts.
Nationwide controversy
The decision in Florida is a reflection of a legal battle being fought across the United States. There is a deep division among federal appeals courts over whether Second Amendment rights fully apply to adults ages 18 to 20.
While courts in circuits like the Fifth have struck down federal restrictions on gun purchases for this age group, others, like the Eleventh Circuit that oversees Florida, have upheld them.
This division of criteria increases the probability that the US Supreme Court will have to intervene to offer a definitive resolution, according to specialists on the subject.
The debate pits gun rights advocates, such as the National Rifle Association (NRA), against gun control activists and family members of victims of gun violence.
The former argue that denying this right to legal adults is unconstitutional, while the latter consider age restrictions as essential public safety measures, born of tragedies like Parkland.
