Overview
- A unanimous three-judge panel of the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the state’s law banning concealed carry by adults ages 18 to 20 violates the Second Amendment, reversed Jaylen Eubanks’ conviction and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings.
- Judge Spencer D. Levine wrote that the panel relied on Supreme Court decisions including Heller, Bruen and Rahimi and on founding-era militia practices to conclude Florida failed to identify a historical tradition that would justify treating 18- to 20-year-olds as a category barred from carrying publicly.
- Attorney General James Uthmeier earlier declined to defend the statute and confirmed he will not seek further review, saying he will coordinate with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to implement the appellate order.
- The case began with Eubanks’ 2024 arrest in Broward County after officers found an unholstered handgun on his waistband, and the appeal followed conflicting lower-court rulings about similar cases that the Fourth DCA resolved with this decision.
- The ruling immediately changes how Florida will enforce concealed-carry rules for 18- to 20-year-olds and could prompt similar legal challenges or policy adjustments elsewhere because it narrows the state’s ability to justify age-based firearm restrictions.