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A federal appeals court on Tuesday narrowly rejected a request from the National Rifle Association to rehear a case challenging the constitutionality of federal laws banning licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to people younger than 21.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans rejected the request to hear the case before the full court on an 8-7 vote, one day after a three-judge panel upheld the laws as constitutional. All three judges on the panel that ruled Monday voted against rehearing the case.

“Congress could have sought to prohibit all persons under 21 from possessing handguns — or all guns, for that matter,” Judge Edward C. Prado wrote in the opinion upholding the law. “But Congress deliberately adopted a calibrated, compromise approach.”

Judge Edith H. Jones, joined by five others, wrote a lengthy dissent in response.

Read more at the Washington Times