AG Ellison Seeks To Reinstate MN Age Limit On Gun Permits

ST. PAUL, MN — Attorney General Keith Ellison on Tuesday filed a petition asking the federal court to reinstate Minnesota’s ban on public carry permits for people under 21.

On July 16, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit ruled that the age restriction in Minnesota’s permit-to-carry statute was unconstitutional.

In its ruling, the court said the state of Minnesota did not provide sufficient evidence of historical laws restricting people under 21 from carrying handguns in public.

Such evidence is needed to rebut the presumption that such conduct is protected under the Second Amendment, according to the court.

"I believe the court erred earlier this month in ruling that the Second Amendment requires Minnesota to allow open carry by youth as young as 18," Ellison said in a statement.

"Respectfully, I believe the court reached the wrong conclusion on the facts and the history, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s recent, common-sense decision to uphold a federal law criminalizing gun possession by domestic abusers and the guidance the court offered in that decision for evaluating challenges like these."

Ellison added that "the public safety benefits to banning open carry by people under 21 years of age are clear."