CCRKBA FILES AMICUS IN SCOTUS OUT-OF-STATE CARRY PERMIT CASE
BELLEVUE, WA – – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm that the right to bear arms does not disappear when a law-abiding citizen crosses a state line.
After CCRKBA’s amicus brief in Viramontes v. Cook County (Illinois) and Grant v. Higgins (Connecticut) concerning “assault weapons”, CCRKBA has now joined an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court in Johnson v. Jacobson, a case challenging Minnesota’s refusal to recognize valid concealed-carry permits issued by other states. The brief urges the high court to hear the case and reverse an Eighth Circuit ruling which upheld Minnesota’s requirement that nonresidents obtain a separate Minnesota carry permit.
“The Constitution doesn’t become optional every time an American crosses a state line,” said CCRKBA Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb. “Minnesota is willing to recognize some carry permits issued by other states while rejecting others, forcing lawful gun owners into a confusing patchwork of government mandates.
“Americans should not have to navigate fifty different bureaucracies to determine whether exercising a constitutional right will turn them into a criminal when they cross a state border,” he continued. “That is exactly the kind of undue burden the Supreme Court should eliminate.”
The case involves a long-haul truck driver who holds carry permits from Florida and Georgia but cannot legally carry a firearm for personal protection while traveling through Minnesota without obtaining a Minnesota permit.
The amicus brief points to the historical treatment of travelers from the colonial period through the 19th century, when “traveler’s exception” laws exempted visitors from certain concealed-carry restrictions imposed on residents. CCRKBA and the other amici argue this historical tradition conflicts with Minnesota’s refusal to recognize permits issued elsewhere.
The burden can also be substantial for citizens who regularly travel throughout the country. According to the brief, California nonresident permits can cost between $500 and $2,000 and take months or even years to obtain, while some states refuse to issue permits to nonresidents at all. One couple noted spending more than $12,800 to obtain permits allowing them to legally carry in 46 states and the District of Columbia.
“This case is about more than one truck driver or one state,” Gottlieb added. “It is about whether state governments can erect costly bureaucratic barriers that leave ordinary citizens wondering whether their constitutional rights end at the state line. The Supreme Court should take this case and force Minnesota to uphold the Constitution.”
CCRKBA joined the brief with the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, California Rifle and Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center and Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.
