Worth v. Jacobson

Supporting Minnesota’s public-carry age restrictions.

Courts: District of Minnesota; Eighth Circuit

Issue at Stake: Restricting individuals under 21 from carrying loaded handguns in public

Summary: Worth v. Jacobson is a challenge to Minnesota’s public-carry restrictions on 18-to-20-year-olds. The plaintiffs argue that Minnesota’s regulations deprive 18- to 20-year-olds of their Second Amendment rights.

In August 2022, Everytown filed an amicus brief in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota in defense of Minnesota’s public-carry age restrictions. The brief argues that the regulation is constitutional under the approach to Second Amendment cases set out in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. It explains that the proper focus for historical analysis is the second half of the 19th century and later periods, which contain a wealth of restrictions demonstrating that individuals under 21 do not have a right to carry firearms in public, and that Bruen’s historical inquiry does not require a state to identify historical laws that are identical to its challenged law.

On March 31, 2023, the district court invalidated Minnesota’s regulation, and Minnesota subsequently appealed. Everytown submitted an amicus brief in the Eighth Circuit, urging the court to reverse the district court’s decision. It explains that plaintiffs have not met their burden to establish that the Second Amendment’s plain text covers individuals under 21, and further explains that the court should center its historical analysis on 1868 as opposed to 1791, and should also consider earlier and later laws.

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