The National Rifle Association is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a pivotal case that could redefine how the Second Amendment applies to young adults across the country. At issue: whether Americans between the ages of 18 and 20 can be banned from purchasing firearms.

The request comes as federal courts have issued conflicting rulings, creating a legal standoff that only the nation’s highest court can resolve. The NRA argues the current split between the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals is “intolerable” and ripe for Supreme Court review.

At the center of the debate are two recent rulings. In January, the Fifth Circuit struck down a federal ban on handgun purchases for 18- to 20-year-olds. In that ruling, Judge Edith Hollan Jones wrote that the Constitution clearly protects the gun rights of Americans in that age range.

“Ultimately, the text of the Second Amendment includes eighteen-to-twenty-year-old individuals among ‘the people’ whose right to keep and bear arms is protected,” the court stated. The ruling also dismissed 19th-century legal arguments used to justify the bans, saying they contradicted the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

But in March, the Eleventh Circuit upheld Florida’s state-level ban in a sharply divided 8-4 decision. That ruling left the prohibition in place and reinforced the legal uncertainty facing young gun owners—especially in states that have enacted similar age-based restrictions.

Now the NRA is asking the Supreme Court to settle the matter once and for all. The group’s executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action, John Commerford, laid out the stakes in a statement:

“Americans 18 years of age and older are considered adults who can vote, enter into contracts, marry, and enlist and fight for our country,” he said. “Those same adults are also guaranteed the right to defend themselves through the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

The NRA originally filed the Florida case in 2021, and has fought it all the way through the court system. Gun rights advocates argue that denying 18- to 20-year-olds access to firearms is not only unconstitutional but also discriminatory. If these individuals can serve in the military and carry weapons in combat, why, they ask, are they barred from owning firearms at home?

Opponents of the NRA’s position often cite public safety concerns, claiming the 18-to-20 age group is more prone to impulsive behavior or crime. But Second Amendment groups argue that rights can’t be denied based on age group assumptions—especially when those same individuals enjoy every other right of adulthood.

This case also holds wider implications. If SCOTUS agrees to hear it, the ruling could affect dozens of state and federal laws across the country and set a new legal precedent on what restrictions, if any, are permissible under the Second Amendment for legal adults under 21.

The NRA’s move comes amid a nationwide wave of new gun laws, court battles, and constitutional carry expansions. Gun control advocates have stepped up efforts in recent years to push age limits and restrictions, while gun rights supporters are increasingly turning to the courts for relief—especially after the landmark Bruen decision in 2022, which reinforced a more originalist reading of the Second Amendment.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the case, it will mark another crucial test of constitutional boundaries—and could determine whether young American adults will continue to be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to their right to bear arms. A decision to hear the case could come as early as this summer.