The Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association have filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Court in support of a New Hampshire man who is challenging the Massachusetts permit law.
SAF and NRA are represented by attorneys Adam Kraut with SAF in Bellevue, Wash., Joseph G.S. Greenlee and Erin M. Erhardt with NRA in Fairfax, Va., and Edward F. George, Jr., at Edward George & Associates in Arlington, Mass.
The case involves New Hampshire resident Dean F. Donnell, Jr., who was stopped by police in Massachusetts and charged for carrying a firearm without a license.
In their 38-page brief, SAF and NRA explain their interest as that of their members’ ability to travel with firearms legally across state lines, to use them for lawful purposes.
“There is no historical tradition that justifies the non-resident licensing scheme now in place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Looking back, a government license has not been required to exercise the right to carry arms. Such licenses came into existence only in the late 19th Century, and they applied only to the concealed carry of firearms. Open carry was unrestricted.”
“Our brief,” explained Kraut, who is also SAF’s executive director, “discusses how there were often exemptions for those traveling from being subject to the same restrictions as residents of a particular state.”
“We note how the licensing scheme in Massachusetts is unduly prejudiced against nonresidents.”
“New nonresident license applications require an in-person appointment in Massachusetts, necessitating an extra (unarmed) trip to the Commonwealth—which, especially for residents of distant states, becomes a barrier to entry that may be financially untenable.”
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
This is more information supporting my stance that state laws should not be able to be made where federal laws exist. We have a right to carry per the 2nd amendment law and above all else Gods law. Permit requirements turn rights to privileges and these requirements should not be allowed. We need standardized law when it comes to guns and driving and no law shall be made that goes against the constitution. A clear understanding that all gun laws are considered to be unconstitutional needs to be made and ATF put back in their box where they belong. Oregoneistan… Read more »
Here’s what’s really going on with the case. First, the actual attorneys are a public defender’s office. Amicus are flying in now that it’s at the appellate level but the PD won purely on her own. The arrest happened pre-Bruen, the trial court judge cleared the New Hampshire Hero based on a motion to dismiss from the PD. That successful motion predates the Rahimi decision. At the time of the arrest, pre-Bruen, Massachusetts discriminated against non-MA residents in the area of carry rights. The only subjective-standard carry permit a New Hampshire resident could get back then was a one-time-use travel… Read more »
Another example of the lame duck NRA getting it’s name out there, making it look like it’s doing something when it fact, it did nothing more than submit a piece of paper. The definition of an amicus brief, “An amicus curiae is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an amicus brief will be considered is typically under the court’s discretion.” SAF and NRA seem to defeat their own… Read more »
MA further discriminates against non-residents by limiting the validity of an out of State permit to only a year or two before the expensive and tedious renewal process must be endured.