Judge Robert E. Payne of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment today in Fraser, et al. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, et al. He found that the prohibition on 18-to-20-year-olds buying handguns violates the Second Amendment and “cannot stand.”

The motion for summary judgment asks for the relief sought in the complaint. The complaint include this among the relief sought:

Declare that 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1), (c) and any derivative regulations, such as 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.99(b)(1), 478.124(a), 478.96(b), violate the right to keep and bear arms as secured by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Declare that 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1), (c) and any derivative regulations, such as 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.99(b)(1), 478.124(a), 478.96(b), violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution by denying equal protection of the laws to law- abiding, qualified adults between eighteen and twenty years of age.

Permanently enjoin the federal Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them from enforcing 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1), (c) and any derivative regulations, such as 27 C.F.R. §§ 478.99(b)(1), 478.124(a), 478.96(b), and provide such further declaratory relief as is consistent with the injunction.

Fraser is suing on behalf of himself and others similarly situated as a class. IANAL, but this looks like a nationwide order to me. I expect the DoJ to have an appeal filed with the Fourth Circuit very quickly.

UPDATE—A family history note … When my son turned 21, he didn’t go to a bar for a drink. He went to a gun store and bought a .45.

UPDATE 2—A lawyer who has reviewed a separate order issued by the judge tells me that the parties in the case have been told to confer on “how best to proceed with the question of class certification in this matter,” so the injunction against enforcement of the purchase restriction may only apply purchases by John Fraser.

UPDATE 3—It’s alway nice to make Twitchy.