SAINT PAUL, MN (June 7, 2021) — On the heels of its historic victory last Friday securing a post-trial judgment and permanent injunction against California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons,” Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today announced that FPC Law filed a new federal Second Amendment lawsuit seeking to restore the right of adults under 21 years of age to carry loaded, operable arms in public for self-defense and other lawful purposes. The case, Kristin Worth, et al. v. John Harrington, et al., is another lawsuit in FPC’s strategic litigation program to secure the right to keep and bear arms throughout the United States. The complaint can be found at FPCLegal.org.
The State of Minnesota generally bars the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense without first acquiring a permit to carry. But under state law, those permits cannot be issued to adults under the age of 21. This legal scheme is thus an unconstitutional total ban on the exercise of the fundamental human right to bear arms for a broad class of legal, law-abiding adults who can vote, serve on a jury, hold public office, marry, and serve in the armed forces.
The complaint states that “[t]hroughout American history, arms carrying was a right available to all peaceable citizens,” and that “[h]undreds of statutes from the colonial and founding eras required 18-to-20-year-olds to keep and bear arms.” Additionally, the complaint argues that Minnesota’s ban “is particularly illegitimate as applied to young women such as Plaintiff Worth” because “[f]emales between the ages of 18 and 21 commit violent offenses at an exceptionally low rate” while noting that “available data show that 18-to-20-year-old adults commit fewer violent crimes than those who are 21-to-24-years-old.”
“As part of our continuing litigation efforts designed to ensure that all individuals are able to exercise their right to keep and bear arms, we filed this case to have Minnesota’s laws and policies declared unconstitutional and enjoined from enforcement,” said Adam Kraut, FPC’s Senior Director of Legal Operations. “There is simply no constitutionally acceptable justification for Minnesota, or any other state, to completely deny a broad class of adults their fundamental, individual right to bear arms. We look forward to vindicating the rights of our clients and the thousands of young adults who reside in Minnesota.”
The Worth case was filed today in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, within the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, against defendants John Harrington, Minnesota Commissioner of Public Safety, Don Lorge, Sheriff of Mille Lacs County, Troy Wolbersen, Sheriff of Douglas County, and Dan Starry, Sheriff of Washington County. FPC has also filed lawsuits challenging similarly unconstitutional restrictions in Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Individuals that are interested in joining FPC in the fight against tyranny can become a member of the FPC Grassroots Army for just $25 at JoinFPC.org.
Firearms Policy Coalition and its FPC Law team are the nation’s next-generation advocates leading the Second Amendment litigation and research space. Some FPC legal actions include:
- A challenge to California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” (Miller v. Bonta) that resulted in a post-trial judgment and permanent injunction against the challenged regulations, the first such victory in United States history
- A brief supporting certiorari in NYSRPA v. Bruen, which was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court
- A challenge to Illinois’ ban on handgun carry by adults under 21 (Meyer v. Raoul)
- A challenge to Georgia’s ban on handgun carry by adults under 21 (Baughcum v. Jackson)
- A challenge to Tennessee’s ban on handgun carry by adults under 21 (Basset v. Slatery)
- A challenge to Maryland’s ban on handgun carry (Call v. Jones)
- A challenge to New Jersey’s ban on handgun carry (Bennett v. Davis)
- A challenge to New York City’s ban on handgun carry (Greco v. New York City)
- A challenge to Pennsylvania’s ban on handgun carry by adults under 21 (Lara v. Evanchick)
- A challenge to the federal ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition to adults under 21 years of age (Reese v. ATF)
- A challenge to Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” (Bianchi v. Frosh)
- A challenge to California’s handgun “roster”, microstamping, and self-manufacturing ban laws (Renna v. Bonta)
- A challenge to Pennsylvania’s laws completely denying the right to carry to individuals who were previously granted relief from prior non-violent convictions and are not currently prohibited from possessing firearms (Suarez v. Evanchick)
For more on these cases and other legal action initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs. FPC Law (FPCLaw.org), the nation’s largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, lead the Second Amendment litigation and research space.