Two years ago, America's highest judicial body made headlines when it ruled that the Second Amendment protects a right to carry firearms outside one's home.

Yet in a move which has left some Republicans furious, the Supreme Court recently refused to extend that right to those under 21. 

Case concerned challenge to Pennsylvania gun law

According to Newsweek, that decision came in response to a case called Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, v Lara, the Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition.

It saw activists challenge the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act of 1995, which bars residents from carrying concealed weapons without a permit and only makes permits available to those who are at least 21 years old.

Supreme Court Tells Judges to Rethink Expanding Gun Rights in Pennsylvania https://t.co/jWyfPijDSD

— Blue Lives Matter (@RetiredNYCPD) October 15, 2024

The plaintiffs pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas' majority opinion in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

He wrote that for gun laws to pass constitutional muster, they must be "consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation" and analogous to rules which existed at the time of America's founding.

Supreme Court pointed to case it decided earlier this year

As Newsweek noted, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit concluded that Pennsylvania's ban on carrying concealed weapons for those between the ages of 18 and 21 is unconstitutional.

However, the Supreme Court moved on Tuesday to remand the case back to the Fifth Circuit for further consideration.

Specifically, it said that the appellate judges should example the arguments in light of another Supreme Court decision earlier this year known as United States v. Rahimi.

In that case, which concerned whether lawmakers may bar those subject to restraining order from possessing firearms, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that gun restrictions need to be a "historic twin" but instead "relevantly similar" to historical rules.

Fifth Circuit decision "reflects a profound and fundamental misunderstanding"

Newsweek quoted Tuesday's order from the Supreme Court as stating that "laws establishing 21 as the minimum age for gun rights have existed for more than 150 years and are consistent with the Founding-era practice of disarming those who present a danger to the public."

It went on to say that the Fifth Circuit's "holding reflects a profound and fundamental misunderstanding of this Court's Second Amendment precedents.

Further, the case "implicates important, unresolved methodological questions with which courts throughout the country are struggling."