On Friday, a federal judge invalidated a Minnesota law that forbids people aged 18 to 20 from obtaining permits to carry handguns in public, handing gun rights advocates another huge victory.
Three individuals under 21, supported by gun-rights advocacy groups, challenged a 2003 Minnesota state law that set an age requirement for obtaining a permit to carry a pistol. They argued that the law violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms, Fox News reported.
In a comprehensive 50-page judgment, U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Menendez, a Biden appointee, concurred. Drawing upon the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, she determined that Minnesota’s legislation was unconstitutional, subsequently barring the state from implementing it.
“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.”
The judge said her ruling was based on the Supreme Court’s recent decision, establishing a new test for evaluating laws regulating firearm possession. Under this test, the government must show that a firearm regulation “is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” for it to be considered constitutional.
Menendez highlighted that the practical implication of the Supreme Court’s decision is that courts cannot evaluate the state’s policy considerations or contemplate “the wisdom behind enacting a 21-year-old requirement for publicly carrying a handgun.”
“Given the relative dearth of firearms regulation from the most relevant period where that lens is aimed, the endeavor of applying Bruen seems likely to lead, generally, to more guns in the hands of more people, not just young adults,” Menendez noted.
“Some Minnesotans are surely fine with that result,” the judge continued. “Others may wonder what public safety measures are left to be achieved through the political process where guns are concerned. But Bruen makes it clear that today’s policy considerations play no role in an analytical framework that begins and ends more than 200 years ago.”
Her ruling allows Minnesotans between the ages of 18 and 20 to obtain a license to carry handguns in public, as long as they meet all other requirements of the law. These requirements include showing proof of having received training, passing a background check, and having no criminal history or serious mental health problems, Fox News added.
Bryan Stawser, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, hailed the 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,” noted Rob Doar, the group’s Senior Vice President & Political Director.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison vowed to file an emergency motion staying Menendez’s order so the state could appeal without having to issue permits to young residents who would see them become invalid if the ruling is overturned.
