Florida AG James Uthmeier took one constitutional stand that sent gun control activists into full panic mode

Gun control activists thought they had a permanent victory locked in stone.

But they just got blindsided by a principled constitutional scholar.

And Florida AG James Uthmeier took one constitutional stand that sent gun control activists into full panic mode.

The Brady Campaign – one of the most radical anti-gun organizations in America – is scrambling after Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced he won’t defend the state’s unconstitutional ban on long gun purchases by adults under 21.

The timing of this constitutional stand couldn’t be better for Second Amendment advocates.

Uthmeier and Governor Ron DeSantis are putting principle over politics by refusing to defend a law they know violates the constitutional rights of young adults.

Brady Campaign launches desperate damage control operation

The 2018 law was passed in the emotional aftermath of the Parkland shooting, when politicians were falling all over themselves to look like they were “doing something” about gun violence.

But cooler heads are now prevailing, and serious constitutional scholars like Uthmeier recognize that stripping constitutional rights from legal adults is a bridge too far.

The Brady Campaign – formerly known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence – filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on Friday, begging the justices not to hear the NRA’s challenge to Florida’s age restriction law.

This wasn’t some random bureaucratic filing – this was full-scale panic mode from professional gun grabbers who know their unconstitutional scheme is about to get exposed.

“After the horrors at Stoneman Douglas in Parkland in 2018 and courageous advocacy by traumatized survivors, the Republican majorities in the Florida Legislature and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis collaborated on a commonsense age requirement for purchasing and receiving firearms,” the Brady Chief Legal Officer Douglas Letter said.

There’s just one problem with Letter’s revisionist history – he got his basic facts completely wrong.

It wasn’t DeSantis who signed the law. It was then-Governor Rick Scott who caved to the gun control lobby in March 2018.

The fact that the Brady Campaign’s chief legal officer can’t even get elementary facts straight tells you everything about the quality of their legal arguments.

Constitutional principle trumps political expediency

Uthmeier announced back in March that he and Governor DeSantis believe the 2018 law violates the Second Amendment rights of adults aged 18-20.

“If the NRA decides to seek further review at SCOTUS, I am directing my office not to defend this law,” Uthmeier declared.

That’s exactly what happened – the NRA filed its petition for certiorari in May, asking the Supreme Court to resolve the split among federal circuit courts over whether adults under 21 enjoy full Second Amendment rights.

The legal landscape is already shifting in favor of constitutional rights. The Third, Fifth, and Eighth Circuits have ruled that young adults do possess Second Amendment rights, while only the Tenth and Eleventh circuits have upheld similar age restriction laws.

Smart money says the Supreme Court is going to side with the Constitution over the gun control lobby – and the Brady Campaign knows it.

That’s why they’re pulling out all the stops to prevent the high court from even hearing the case.

Professional activists exploit tragedy for political gain

The Brady Campaign’s entire strategy revolves around emotional manipulation rather than constitutional analysis.

They’re desperately trying to frame this as an attack on the memory of Parkland victims, when it’s actually about defending the constitutional rights that make America free.

“In refusing to do his job, Attorney General Uthmeier shamefully denies these facts and denies the success of the law in saving lives and decreasing the rates of gun deaths of the state’s minors,” Letter huffed in his statement.

But here’s what Letter conveniently ignores – an 18-year-old who can vote, serve in the military, get married, and take on massive student debt shouldn’t have their Second Amendment rights stripped away by politicians pandering to gun control activists.

The Supreme Court should deny the NRA’s profit-driven request, and allow this bipartisan success to continue,” Letter concluded.

Notice the loaded language – portraying the NRA’s constitutional challenge as “profit-driven” while positioning his own organization’s political activism as pure and noble.

This is standard operating procedure for professional gun grabbers who can’t win on the constitutional merits.

Florida House already moving to restore constitutional rights

The political momentum is clearly shifting toward constitutional rights.

The Florida House has passed legislation three years running (most recently HB 759 in March) that would lower the age for purchasing shotguns and rifles from 21 back to 18.

The only reason it hasn’t become law is that the Florida Senate hasn’t taken up the legislation – yet.

But with Uthmeier and DeSantis taking a principled constitutional stand, expect that dynamic to change quickly.

Constitutional law professor Bob Jarvis from Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law sees the writing on the wall.

“I would expect Florida to do the same thing here – not defend Florida’s law and file an amicus brief in support of the NRA,” Jarvis predicted.

That would put Florida in the same position as blue state attorneys general who refused to defend their states’ same-sex marriage bans during the Obergefell case a decade ago.

The difference is that this time, it’s conservative attorneys general refusing to defend unconstitutional laws that strip rights from law-abiding citizens.

Second Amendment advocates sense victory

The Brady Campaign’s desperate legal maneuvering reveals how weak their constitutional position really is.

If they had confidence in their legal arguments, they’d welcome Supreme Court review instead of begging the justices not to hear the case.

Jeffrey DeSousa, the acting solicitor general in Florida’s Office of Legal Affairs, has already filed two 30-day extensions in response to the NRA’s petition, with his response due to the high court by August 20.

Those delays suggest Florida is carefully considering whether to abandon defense of the law entirely and switch sides to support the NRA’s constitutional challenge.

Such a move would be devastating to the gun control lobby, which depends on having state governments defend their unconstitutional schemes in federal court.

The Brady Campaign can rage all they want about Uthmeier’s principled constitutional stand.

But at the end of the day, the Constitution means what it says – and young adults don’t forfeit their Second Amendment rights just because professional activists exploit tragedies for political gain.

¹ Mitch Perry, “Safety group steps in after Florida’s attorney general says he won’t defend ban on long gun purchases,” Florida Phoenix, August 18, 2025.

² Mitch Perry, “Florida AG says he won’t defend state ban on long gun purchases, so gun safety group steps up,” Florida Phoenix, August 12, 2025.