A Minnesota law prohibiting people between the ages of 18-20 from permits to carry handguns in public was struck down on Friday.
A trio of people under 21 years old challenged a 2003 state law enforcing an age requirement for people who want to apply for a permit to carry a pistol, arguing the law unconstitutionally prevented young adults from exercising their Second Amendment right. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Menendez agreed in her 50-page ruling and blocked the state from enforcing it, according to Fox News.
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“Based on a careful review of the record, the court finds that defendants have failed to identify analogous regulations that show a historical tradition in America of depriving 18- to 20-year-olds the right to publicly carry a handgun for self-defense,” Menendez wrote. “As a result, the age requirement prohibiting persons between the ages of 18 and 20 from obtaining such a permit to carry violates the Second Amendment.”
Menendez indicated that her ruling was supported by the Supreme Court, which had established a new legal test in the Supreme Court’s 2022 decisionNew York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, to evaluate laws regulating firearm possession.
The decision to strike down the state law was applauded by Bryan Stawser, chairman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, who described Menendez’s decision as “a resounding victory for 18-20-year-old adults who wish to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.”
“This decision should serve as a warning to anti-gun politicians in Minnesota that the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and its allies will not hesitate to take legal actions against unconstitutional infringements on the Second Amendment rights of Minnesotans,” said Rob Doar, the group’s senior vice president & political director.
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In response to the ruling, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed an emergency motion for a stay so that Minnesota can file an appeal of the court’s decision.
Ellison argued that due to this new ruling, “there would be innumerable young people with guns, whose permits were no longer valid. Minnesota’s interest merges with that of the public.”
