Federal appeals court affirms that Minnesota’s age limit on permit to carry is unconstitutional

A Minnesota law restricting adults younger than 21 from obtaining a permit to carry a firearm is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down the opinion on Tuesday, affirming a ruling by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez last year that prohibited Minnesota from denying 18-to-20-year-olds from getting a permit to carry.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison can appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Members of firearms rights groups — the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition and the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus — filed the original complaint in 2021 against three county sheriffs. The plaintiffs were all gun owners older than 18 but younger than 21 who argued Minnesota’s age restriction on acquiring a permit to carry infringed on their Second and 14th Amendment rights.