Attorneys General Stand with Amicus Brief Challenging Massachusetts’s Firearm Licensing for Nonresidents
Florida, Tennessee, and Texas, along with 23 other states, have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging it to invalidate Massachusetts’s firearm licensing requirements for nonresidents.
The coalition argues that these requirements violate the Second Amendment by creating an unconstitutional burden on out-of-state travelers.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said, “Tennesseans’ Second Amendment rights don’t just disappear when they visit Massachusetts.”
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The brief supports a challenge to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that upheld the state’s license-to-carry regime, even when applied to law-abiding travelers from other states who cannot reasonably comply with the burdensome process.
The case involves a New Hampshire resident who was arrested in Massachusetts after voluntarily informing law enforcement he was carrying a legally owned firearm without a Massachusetts license. Although a trial court initially dismissed the charges, the state’s highest court reinstated them.
The multistate brief outlines several key concerns with Massachusetts’s law:
- Unconstitutional Burdens: The brief argues that Massachusetts’s permitting process for nonresidents imposes lengthy delays and high fees, giving the government sweeping discretion to deny permits.
- No Historical Precedent: The coalition asserts that there is no historical tradition of preventing nonresidents from transporting or possessing firearms while traveling.
- Federalism and Individual Rights: The brief stresses that constitutional rights, especially those under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, should not be subject to different standards based on geography.
The coalition is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review and overturn the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision. Attorney General Skrmetti emphasized the principle that constitutional rights travel with every American, regardless of the state they are in.
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