Gun owners, industry groups sue over state’s efforts to restrict gun ownership for 18-20-year-olds

The NRA says the state’s gun laws are unconstitutional.

Signage for the National Rifle Association Bloomberg

Firearm owners are taking another aim at the state’s new gun laws, filing a federal lawsuit last week to challenge their constitutionality over its age limits.

On Friday, a coalition of industry groups, including the National Rifle Association and gun owners, filed a lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’s prohibition on the possession and carry of handguns and semiautomatic firearms by those under 21.

At the end of July, Gov. Maura Healey signed a sweeping gun bill aimed at cracking down on trace “ghost guns” and expanded the state’s red flag law. Along with other restrictions, the law bans 18-20-year-olds from possessing or carrying a handgun or semiautomatic firearm.

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“Massachusetts’s new gun control law is one of the most severe attacks on the right to keep and bear arms in our nation’s history,” said NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director John Commerford in a statement. “Vindicating the rights of young adults is just our first step towards dismantling this unconstitutional law.”

Adults under 21 are eligible for a firearm identification card. However, according to the complaint, the card does not permit holders to purchase, possess, or transfer handguns or semiautomatic firearms. To do so, Massachusetts residents must obtain a license to carry, but the law says adults under 21 are ineligible for that license.

The complaint argues that because 18-20-year-olds are among “the people” protected by the Second Amendment, Massachusett’s prohibition on the possession and carry of handguns and semiautomatic weapons by adults under 21 violates the Constitution.

One of the plaintiffs is Mack Escher of Brewster, a Massachusetts Maritime Academy student who falls into the 18-20-year-old rage. According to the complaint, Escher enjoys hunting for recreation and wants to own and carry a firearm to defend himself. In the past, he legally used his father’s semiautomatic rifle to hunt.

But because of his age, Escher is ineligible to purchase or carry a gun for self-defense.

Escher joined the lawsuit with the NRA, Gun Owners’ Action League, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, and Gun Owners of America.

The plaintiffs cited the US Supreme Court’s 2022 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, which held that law-abiding citizens can carry firearms publicly. Two years later, this decision sparked the state’s expanded legislation.

The NRA continues to challenge the law. In the past, the group has called the law “one of the most extreme gun control bills in the country.”

Healey’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

In July, spokesperson Karissa Hand said that Gov. Healey, as a former attorney general, has a record of successfully defeating the NRA’s attempts to undermine strong gun laws.

“Our administration is confident in the legality of this legislation and will strongly oppose any attempts to weaken community safety,” Hand said.