At what age does a person become an adult and enjoy the full rights of adulthood? Over time, people in the West have become infantilized as the age of majority has reversed course and seems to continue rising. It used to be that at age 18 you could enjoy a beer and a cigarette. But now you have to be 21 to purchase both alcohol and tobacco.
You used to be able to buy a gun at age 18. But many states have raised their minimum firearms purchase age to 21. And federal law has long stated that 21 is the minimum age to purchase a handgun. But that law was recently challenged in federal court.
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that the federal government’s blanket ban on handgun purchases by those under 21 was unconstitutional. But in a surprise move, the court recently vacated its ruling, claiming that the issue was now moot because both plaintiffs in the case are now 21. So now a case that could have set a precedent and overturned an obviously unjust law is moot. And the unjust law remains on the books to deny thousands of Americans their God-given right to bear arms.
Imagine if courts gave that type of excuse in other cases. Your car was stolen but then found by the police? Well, the case is moot because you have your car back, so there’s no need to punish the thieves. The whole reason for these cases is to get unjust laws overturned, and the court knows that. Yet it inexplicably decided to vacate its own ruling.
What if courts did the same with rulings on other age-related issues? Want to challenge the constitutionality of the 21-year drinking age? Just have the court drag its feet until the plaintiffs are 21, then declare the case moot. Never mind the fact that the plaintiffs were victimized until they turned 21. Never mind that millions of others have to follow such unjust laws. The court is going to do what it wants on its own timeline, everyone else be damned.
Is it any wonder that the American people place less and less trust in our legal system each year? The wannabe gods in black robes continue to discredit themselves year after year, and are sowing the seeds of their own destruction with rulings that defy common sense, let alone any sense of justice.