A federal judge in Virginia has dealt a blow to leftist gun control advocates in a stunning ruling involving the legal age to buy handguns.

In a 71-page ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne said that disallowing 18-20 year-olds from making handgun purchases is a violation if their constitutional rights under the Second Amendment.

Payne argued that considering adults under 21 already have the right to vote, enlist in the military, and participate in federal jury service, there is no justification for federal legislation to prohibit them from purchasing firearms, Fox News reported.

“If the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year-olds from the Second Amendment’s protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantees,” Payne, a George H. W. Bush appointee, wrote.

“Because the statutes and regulations in question are not consistent with our Nation’s history and tradition, they, therefore, cannot stand,” he added.

In forming his opinion, he heavily relied on the Bruen decision of the Supreme Court, which emphasized the necessity for courts to assess the nation’s “historical tradition of firearm regulation” when evaluating the constitutionality of restrictions on gun ownership, the outlet reported. The influential ruling has resulted in numerous successful legal challenges by gun owners and Second Amendment advocacy groups against long-standing gun control laws.

Following the decision, there have been several cases where courts have declared certain laws unconstitutional. These include federal measures aimed at preventing domestic abusers and defendants under felony indictment from possessing guns, as well as a ban on owning firearms with removed serial numbers. Recently, a federal judge cited the high court decision to rule against a Minnesota law prohibiting 18-20 year-olds from carrying handguns in public. Similarly, last year, a judge struck down a similar law in Texas that restricted gun ownership for young adults.

Payne, who cited the 2022 SCOTUS ruling often in his ruling, noted that the federal government did not present “any evidence of age-based restrictions on the purchase or sale of firearms from the colonial era, Founding or Early Republic.” The lack of similar regulations from those time periods indicates that the “Founders considered age-based regulations on the purchase of firearms to circumscribe the right to keep and bear arms confirmed by the Second Amendment,” he wrote.

John Corey Fraser, along with other plaintiffs, initiated a class-action lawsuit arguing that the Gun Control Act of 1968 and subsequent regulations implemented by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) were unconstitutional. They contended that these laws unjustly prevented all adults under 21 from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.

Fraser, 20, was unable to purchase a Glock 19x handgun from a licensed dealer, as stated in the lawsuit.

Elliott Harding, a lawyer representing Fraser, was not only pleased with Payne’s ruling but also said he believes it’ll be upheld on appeal.

“Even though it ensures that future buyers can now purchase these firearms in the federal system — one that includes background checks and other requirements — we expect the defendants will appeal,” Harding told the Associated Press.

He added that 18-20-year-olds can currently buy handguns from private sellers.

“This allows them to go in and buy a registered firearm, direct from a manufacturer, but they’ll also go through background checks,” he said. “They have to go through the traditional steps in purchasing a firearm.”