BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has joined a coalition of 25 states in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of Massachusetts’ firearm licensing requirements for nonresidents.
New Hampshire AG John M. Formella is spearheading the effort. The case involves a New Hampshire resident who was arrested and charged in Massachusetts after voluntarily disclosing to law enforcement that he was carrying a legally owned firearm despite lacking a Massachusetts license.
Murrill
Although the trial court dismissed the charges, Massachusetts’s highest court reinstated them, citing the state’s licensing framework.
The AGs’ amicus brief supports a petition challenging a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which upheld the Commonwealth’s license-to-carry regime — even when applied to law-abiding out-of-state travelers who cannot reasonably comply with the state’s burdensome permitting process.
“The Second Amendment does not end at the Massachusetts border,” Formella said. “Citizens should not face criminal charges simply for exercising their constitutional rights while traveling. Massachusetts’s approach treats nonresidents as second-class citizens, imposes arbitrary and excessive restrictions, and contradicts both historical tradition and Supreme Court precedent.
“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.”
The multistate brief outlines several key concerns:
• Unconstitutional Burdens: Massachusetts’s permitting process for nonresidents involves lengthy delays (ranging from 40 to 170 days), high fees, and broad discretionary denial standards based on vague “suitability” criteria.
• Lack of Historical Precedent: There is no well-established historical tradition of barring nonresidents from transporting or possessing firearms while traveling.
• Federalism and Individual Rights: The Constitution guarantees certain rights, especially those protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments—that cannot be subject to differing standards based solely on geography.
The coalition urges the U.S. Supreme Court to grant review and reverse the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Joining New Hampshire and Louisiana in this coalition are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
