A conservative federal appeals court said Thursday that a federal law banning the sale of handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds is unconstitutional, elevating a significant question about the Second Amendment’s reach in the wake of recent major Supreme Court rulings on gun rights.

A conservative US appeals court ruled on Thursday that a law banning the sale of handguns by federally licensed firearms dealers to adults under the age of 21 is unconstitutional. In its ruling, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said the law passed by Congress in 1968 banning handgun sales by licensed dealers to adults under the age of 21 violated the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.