In a lengthy dissent backing a federal ban on gun sales to people under 21, an appeals court judge on Tuesday took a shot at a comment Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made in 2018 describing the Second Amendment as “a disfavored right.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Tuesday that a law passed by Congress in 1968 setting a minimum age requirement for handguns purchased from licensed dealers is unconstitutional. In explaining the decision that divided the three-judge panel, the majority—which included Judges George Steven Agee and Julius N. Richardson—argued the law infringes the rights of law-abiding 18- to 20-year-olds and is not justified by youth crime rates. Richardson wrote that the ban also pushes young gun buyers to less regulated and potentially unsafe markets.

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