Supreme Court declines Minnesota concealed carry permit case

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging Minnesota’s refusal to recognize concealed carry permits issued by other states. The lawsuit, Johnson v. Jacobson, was filed by the Liberty Justice Center on behalf of Jeffrey Johnson, a long-haul trucker who holds valid permits from Georgia and Florida.

The legal challenge argued that Minnesota’s policy forces law-abiding citizens to undergo new licensing processes when crossing state lines, potentially infringing upon Second Amendment rights. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals had previously upheld Minnesota’s position, ruling that an individual’s Second Amendment rights regarding permits are confined to the borders of the state that issued them.

While the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant certiorari allows the Eighth Circuit’s ruling to stand, attorneys for the Liberty Justice Center noted that the decision is not a ruling on the merits of the case. They stated that the fundamental question of whether a citizen forfeits self-defense rights when crossing state lines remains legally unresolved.