A federal judge on Friday struck down a Minnesota law barring adults between the ages of 18 and 20 from obtaining permits to carry handguns in public.
Aided by gun rights groups, three people under the age of 21 challenged a 2003 state law that imposed an age requirement for applying for a gun license. They argued that the law unconstitutionally prohibits young adults from exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
In a 50-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Menendez agreed. Relying on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, the judge found the Minnesota law to be unconstitutional and barred the state from enforcing it.
“Based on a careful review of the record, the court finds that the defendants have not identified analogous regulations that point to a historical tradition in America of denying young people between the ages of 18 and 20 the right to publicly carry a gun. fist to defend themselves,” Menéndez wrote. “As a result, the age requirement prohibiting persons between the ages of 18 and 20 from obtaining such a transport permit violates the Second Amendment.”
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Handguns inside a display case at a gun store on Friday, January 13, 2017 in Walnut Creek, California. (Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
The judge indicated that her decision was supported by the Supreme Court, which established a new legal test in Brown evaluate the laws regulating the possession of firearms. The majority of the Supreme Court ruled that the government must demonstrate that a gun regulation “is consistent with the country’s historical tradition of gun regulation” in order to pass the constitutional test.
The practical effect of the Supreme Court’s decision, Menendez wrote, is that the courts are not allowed to weigh the political concerns of the state or consider “the wisdom behind enacting a 21-year requirement for the public carrying of a handgun”.
“Given the relative paucity of firearms regulation of the most relevant period to which this objective is directed, the enforcement effort Brown seems likely to lead, in general, to more guns in the hands of more people, not just young adults,” Menendez noted.
“Some Minnesotans surely agree with this result,” the judge continued. “Others may wonder what public safety measures remain to be achieved through the gun policy process. But Brown makes it clear that today’s political considerations play no role in an analytical framework that begins and ends over 200 years ago.
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An attendee holds a Glock Ges.mbH GLOCK 19 Gen5 9mm pistol during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual meeting at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas on May 28, 2022. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Menendez’s decision allows adults under the age of 21 to be licensed to carry a handgun in public in Minnesota, provided they meet all other requirements of the law, including proof that they have received training, passed a background check, and no criminal history or serious mental disorder. health problems.
Bryan Stawser, chairman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, hailed the decision as “a resounding victory for adults ages 18 to 20 who wish to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.”
“This ruling should serve as a warning to anti-gun politicians in Minnesota that the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and its allies will not hesitate to pursue legal action against unconstitutional violations of Minnesotans’ Second Amendment rights,” added Rob Doar, the band’s manager. Vice President and Political Director.
Following the ruling, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed an emergency motion for a stay so that Minnesota could appeal the court’s decision, or alternatively, have “a 60-day stay for enable its orderly implementation”.
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Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz has called on state lawmakers to pass new gun control legislation following the shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee, where six people, including three children, were killed by an emotionally disturbed woman who identified as a transgender man. (David Joles/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
The attorney general argued that if the court’s decision were to be overturned on appeal, “there would be countless young people with guns, whose licenses were no longer valid. Minnesota’s interest merges with that of the public,” Ellison wrote in the motion.
Ellison’s case opens the door for Minnesota to appeal the district court’s decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The court’s decision comes as Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has pledged to pass new gun control measures this year. After the school shooting in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Walz lobbied lawmakers to pass extensive background checks and a red flag law.
