The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a petition for a rehearing in a Second Amendment Foundation case which found Minnesota’s ban on carry permits for young adults ages 18-20 is unconstitutional.
In its order, the Eighth Circuit also denied a request for an en banc panel hearing.
The case, known as Worth v. Harrington, dates back to June 2021. It is one of several challenges SAF has filed in cases involving the right to carry by young adults.
Joining SAF in this case are the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, Firearms Policy Coalition and three private citizens, Austin Dye, Axel Anderson and Kristin Worth, for whom the case is known. They are represented by attorneys Blair W. Nelson of Bemidji, Minn., and David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and William V. Bergstrom at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.
U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Menendez, a 2021 Joe Biden appointee, ruled in March 2023 that Minnesota’s permitting age restriction is unconstitutional. The case was appealed to the Eighth Circuit, which upheld Judge Menendez decision.
“Clearly, Judge Menendez made the right call in the first place,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “As we contended all along, the right of the people mentioned in the Second Amendment was not limited to those over a certain age. Certainly young adults fall within the definition of ‘the people’ ever since they’ve been allowed to vote, and generations before that when they were considered part of the militia, and have been accepted into the military.”
“We expected to prevail at trial and again at the appeals court level,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are gratified by the Eight Circuit’s decision, and now we will see whether Minnesota submits a petition for certiorari to the Supreme Court. For the time being, we have notched another victory in our ongoing effort to win firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time.”
SAF is also pursuing a case in Pennsylvania which deals with carry by young adults. Then subject could eventually wind up before the Supreme Court, since young adults have already been granted “majority” status allowing them to vote, join the military, start their own businesses, get married and enter into contracts. That they are prohibited from legally carrying firearms for personal protection poses a dilemma for those advocating full rights for citizens in that age group.
