Court Hears Arguments in Minnesota’s Ban on Young Adults Carrying Guns
A federal hearing about the right of 18 to 20-year-old adults to carry firearms in Minnesota took place in the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case, Worth v. Jacobson, was brought by Kristin Worth, Austin Dye, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) against the Minnesota regulation that forbids citizens under the age of 21 from carrying firearms. The plaintiffs claim that the law violates their right to bear arms.
At the heart of the case is the question, “Who are the people?” The Second Amendment grants the people the right to bear arms. To many, the people are those 18 and over, but the government disagrees with that conclusion. The government argues adulthood doesn’t start until age 21; therefore, those under 21 are not part of “the people.”
The court seemed skeptical of the government’s position that the Second Amendment only applies to those 21 and over. At one point, a judge asked the attorneys for the defendants if someone under 21 had Fourth Amendment protections during a traffic stop. Bruen stated that the Second Amendment is not a second-class right and cannot be treated differently than other rights. If Minnesota’s argument is correct, that would mean that citizens under 21 do not have freedom of speech, the right to vote, or the right to remain silent.
