Texans ages 18 and up can carry firearms after appeal dropped

The law, which is no longer in place, stated that people under the age of 21 in Texas could not carry handguns outside of their homes or vehicles.

By Madeleine Hubbard

Published: December 25, 2022 11:29am

Updated: December 25, 2022 12:32pm

People ages 18 and up can carry handguns in Texas after the state dropped an appeal of a federal court ruling that a Texas law prohibiting people aged 18–20 from carrying a handgun outside the home was unconstitutional.

Texas asked to withdraw the appeal on Dec. 20, according to court records, after initially filing a notice to appeal in September, The Epoch Times reported.

Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steven McCraw, who asked the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to withdraw, did not say why the state backed out.

"We applaud Texas for doing the right thing and accepting the district court's ruling against its law prohibiting 18-to-20-year-old adults from carrying firearms in public," said Cody Wisniewski, senior attorney for the Firearms Policy Coalition, which sued Texas over the law.

"Not only do young adults have the same constitutionally protected right to bear arms as all other adults, they are also among the reasons we have a Second Amendment, Constitution, and Country in the first place," Wisniewski said.