Pennsylvania Sued Over Carry Ban

Pennsylvania adults aged 18 to 20 still can't get a license to carry a firearm in their own car or on Philadelphia's streets, and two of the country's biggest gun rights groups just sued to change that.

What happened: Firearms Policy Coalition and the National Rifle Association filed Maines v. Bethel in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, challenging the Commonwealth's categorical ban on issuing carry licenses to adults under 21. The suit was brought alongside an FPC member who says the law is blocking his own right to carry for self-defense.

The legal problem: Pennsylvania requires a license to carry a concealed firearm, carry one in a vehicle, or carry in public in Philadelphia. Adults under 21 aren't just denied those licenses on stricter terms — they're barred from even applying.

• Vehicle carry is off-limits. A trip to work or the grocery store by car can put an 18-year-old at risk of felony charges.
• Philadelphia carry is off-limits. Unlicensed open carry doesn't help residents of a city that requires a license for public carry.
• No workaround exists. Open carry exceptions elsewhere in the state don't cover the situations young adults actually face day to day.

This isn't Pennsylvania's first loss on this exact issue. In Lara v. Paris, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that 18-to-20-year-old adults are protected by the Second Amendment and struck down the state's restrictions on open carry during declared emergencies. The Supreme Court sent the case back for a second look, and in January 2025 the Third Circuit reaffirmed its original decision. Pennsylvania kept its separate licensing ban in place anyway.

What they're saying: FPC President Brandon Combs didn't mince words about the state's track record. "Pennsylvania already lost in the Third Circuit when it tried to deny 18-to-20-year-olds their right to carry firearms, but the Commonwealth still insists on treating peaceable adults as second-class citizens," he said, pointing out that these same adults can enlist in the military, vote, marry, and sign binding contracts.

The intrigue: Federal law already bars under-21s from buying handguns from licensed dealers — a separate fight entirely — but it doesn't touch their right to carry one they lawfully possess. Pennsylvania's licensing scheme goes further than federal law by making lawful carry nearly impossible for this age group in the places they're most likely to need it.

What to watch: The case lands in a legal environment where Bruen's history-and-tradition test has already produced one binding circuit ruling against Pennsylvania on nearly identical grounds. Whether the state tries to distinguish the licensing ban from the open-carry restrictions struck down in Lara, or digs in for another appeal, will determine how fast this moves.

The bottom line: Pennsylvania lost this fight once at the Third Circuit and is now defending a law built on the same theory. Young adults in the state are left with a right the courts say they have and no lawful way to exercise it outside narrow exceptions.