People 18 and older can now obtain a permit to carry a gun in Minnesota after the U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to take up the state’s appeal in a case challenging the minimum age of 21.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Monday notified certified firearms trainers and sheriff’s offices that people between the ages of 18 and 20 can now apply for a firearms carry permit.

The change comes nearly four years after gun rights advocates brought a lawsuit on behalf of a group of legal adults under 21 seeking to overturn the age limit. They argued the age restriction deprived legal adults of a constitutional right.

A Minnesota federal judge ruled in favor of the group in March 2023, which the state appealed. Last July, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously ruled in favor of gun rights groups.

Attorney general response

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sought to appeal that decision as well, but the limit is officially gone now that the highest court has turned down the case.

At an unrelated Tuesday press briefing, Ellison said that while the state lost the case and will have to issue permits to young adults now, he didn’t think it would be the last time the issue comes up in court.

“We believe that the state of Minnesota has the right and the authority to pass laws to protect people from gun violence, and we were disappointed,” he said. “We thought that was a good case for the Supreme Court to consider, but there are other cases of that nature, and so we’ll see. This matter will be addressed eventually.”

Courts across the country have come to different conclusions about gun rights for 18- to 20-year-olds in recent years, the Associated Press reported, though the Supreme Court has been selective about the cases it takes. In addition to leaving the Minnesota decision intact, the Supreme Court also allowed a ban on guns at the University of Michigan to remain in place.

Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus

In a statement on the Supreme Court’s decision, gun rights activists hailed the change it brings to Minnesota law, and reiterated their commitment to challenging restrictions on Second Amendment rights in the state.

“This is a resounding victory for 18-20-year-old adults who wish to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms,” said Bryan Strawser, chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

Despite the setback for his office’s efforts, Ellison said he will continue to take action against gun manufacturers and retailers.

The attorney general’s office in December sued Glock Inc. over its handguns’ convertibility into automatic weapons. In 2022, he sued Fleet Farm for what the office alleges were inadequate safeguards against “straw purchases” — when someone buys weapons for a person ineligible to do so themselves.

What did judges say about age limit?

In the first 2023 ruling overturning Minnesota’s age limit for carry permits, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez wrote that a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision requires regulations on guns to be weighed on whether they are consistent with the nation’s “historical tradition” of regulation, rather than public safety concerns.

At the time, Menendez expressed reservations about the required historical analysis sought by the Supreme Court in their ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen.

A year later, an appeal by the state resulted in a unanimous ruling in favor of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and other gun rights groups on the lawsuit, including the Firearms Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation.

Judges on the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court’s finding that Minnesota’s age limit of 21 to obtain a concealed carry permit can not be enforced, as it deprives legal adults of constitutionally guaranteed rights.

“Ordinary, law-abiding 18 to 20-year-old Minnesotans are unambiguously members of the people,” wrote Judge William Duane Benton in the court’s opinion, joined by Judges Lavenski R. Smith and David R. Stras. “Because the plain text of the Second Amendment covers the plaintiffs and their conduct, it is presumptively constitutionally protected.”

Minnesota permit law

Minnesota enacted its permit-to-carry law in 2003.

Applicants must take an approved firearms training course and apply at their local sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office then investigates the applicant’s background before deciding whether to issue a permit. Permits are valid for five years.

Minnesota doesn’t have a “concealed carry” permit, per se.

The state’s permit-to-carry law allows for the concealed and open carrying of firearms. Other states, such as Wisconsin and North Dakota, allow for open carrying of firearms under certain circumstances without a permit.