New Hampshire Challenge to Massachusetts Law May Result in National Reciprocity Via the Courts

New Hampshire and 24 other states want to take Massachusetts to the U.S. Supreme Court in a dispute over gun laws. …

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts said in its ruling that “the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not absolute,” and the state is not prohibited from “requiring firearm licenses for persons within its borders.”

But the New Hampshire attorney general says the permitting process for nonresidents is “burdensome” and can take up to 170 days. New Hampshire also makes the argument that Constitutional rights “cannot be subject to differing standards based solely on geography.”

The filing uses the Pheasant Lane Mall, which straddles the border of the two states, as an example. It says a New Hampshire resident legally carrying a gun through one part of the mall risks being charged as a felon if they were to visit the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant that’s within Massachusetts borders.

“Massachusetts’s approach treats nonresidents as second-class citizens, imposes arbitrary and excessive restrictions, and contradicts both historical tradition and Supreme Court precedent,” Formella said. “We filed this brief to defend the principle that constitutional rights travel with the individual—not just within their home state, but across the United States.”

— Neal Riley in New Hampshire aims to take gun law dispute with Massachusetts to Supreme Court