Good News: SCOTUS Denies Cert in Worth, Minnesota Ban on Carry by Adults Under 21 Goes Down

Some good Second Amendment news from the Supreme Court today. The Justices have denied cert in Worth v. Jacobson, a case in which the plaintiffs — including the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, SAF and FPC — challenged the Gopher State’s ban on adults under 21 yeas obtaining carry permits. This is another win as a result of Bruen.

The plaintiffs won at the District Court level as the law was ruled unconstitutional. When Worth got to the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, a three-judge panel ruled that adults aged 18 to 21 years old are, in fact, included among “the people” under Bruen, and that the state of Minnesota failed to produce any historical analogues that would support denying full gun rights to some adults based on their age. They affirmed the District Court’s ruling that Minnesota’s law is unconstitutional. The Eight District then refused an en banc appeal.

The state then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court and this morning, we got word that cert has been denied. Now Minnesota (and presumably the rest of the states in the Eighth Circuit – AR, IA, MO, NE, ND, SD – if they’re not already) will have to begin issuing carry permits to law-abiding adults under 21.

As you might expect, SAF was well pleased:

In a case that could potentially have far-reaching implications for similar lawsuits across the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court has denied Minnesota’s Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Jacobson v. Worth, the Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) challenge to the 18-20-year-old carry ban in the state.

Minnesota asked the Supreme Court to take the case after SAF was granted an injunction at the district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The High Court’s refusal to hear the case means the Eighth Circuit’s ruling stands as a final judgment, confirming SAF’s win.

“We are encouraged with today’s ruling, that the Supreme Court was happy to let the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that 18-20-year-olds are part of “the People” who have the right to carry a handgun for self-defense, stand,” said SAF Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “This ruling will have reverberations nationwide, where SAF is involved in multiple similar suits, seeking to restore the rights of young adults who face similarly unconstitutional laws in their home states.”

Originally filed in June 2021 as Worth v. Harrington, SAF is joined by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, Firearms Policy Coalition, and three private citizens, Kristin Worth, for whom the case is named, Austin Dye, and Axel Anderson. They are represented by attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, John D. Ohlendorf and William V. Bergstrom at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.

“Today’s cert denial confirms what we’ve said all along – the Second Amendment is not limited to those 21-years-old and above,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are cautiously optimistic the denial will have a positive impact in SAF’s challenges to similar bans in other states. Our goal is to remove any impediments for adults – no matter their age – to exercise their Second Amendment rights wherever they live.”  

Now, if we can get SCOTUS to take Snope and Ocean State . . .