With long-haul truckers’ lawsuit, Minnesota’s firearm permit law is again in legal crosshairs

Two long-haul truckers, with the backing of a legal nonprofit that has argued multiple U.S. Supreme Court cases, are suing Minnesota over the state’s refusal to recognize more than half of the firearm permits issued by other states.

The plaintiffs, one from Texas and another from Georgia, are leaning on a 2022 landmark opinion from the high court used last year to invalidate Minnesota’s age restriction for permit applications.

David A. McCoy II of Texas and Jeffrey M. Johnson Sr. of Georgia filed their suit against Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson on Tuesday, arguing Minnesota’s refusal to recognize their existing gun permits violated their Second Amendment rights and presented them with an “unreasonable burden.” Johnson also has a Florida concealed weapons license that is not recognized in Minnesota.

“There is no other constitutional right that individuals are prohibited from exercising until they’ve obtained permission from the state,” said Loren Seehase, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, a Texas-based nonprofit legal firm representing McCoy and Johnson. “No one loses their right to free speech or freedom of religion by simply driving from Texas to Minnesota, so why should they lose their right to self-defense?”

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is representing Jacobson in the lawsuit, but a spokesperson deferred to the DPS for comment. A DPS spokesperson said the department had yet to be served with the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.

The Liberty Justice Center is best known for representing Mark Janus in a case that yielded the 2018 Supreme Court opinion that disallowed labor unions from collecting fees from nonmembers.

Minnesota’s permit-to-carry law allows permitholders from some, but not all, states to have their permits recognized here. But that list changes annually and at the discretion of Minnesota’s Public Safety commissioner after a review of other states’ laws. As of this month, Minnesota honors permits issued from 20 states and does not recognize gun permits from 29 others. The lawsuit argues that the annual review of which permit laws to accept in Minnesota is “not based on objective standards.”

Permitholders from states without reciprocity must obtain a Minnesota permit to carry or get one from a state that has reciprocity. State law otherwise makes it a gross misdemeanor to possess a pistol without a valid permit to carry, punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a $3,000 fine. A second conviction under the law is a felony and carries the potential of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

McCoy and Johnson’s complaint says that should they be found in violation of the law, their professional credentials could be at risk.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan is overseeing the case. McCoy and Johnson want Bryan to find Minnesota’s firearm permitting law unconstitutional because it deprives nonresidents of their Second Amendment rights. It is also seeking an order requiring Minnesota to honor firearm permits issued by all other states.

The lawsuit points out that applications for permits to carry in Minnesota must be submitted in person and must be renewed in the same manner as the initial application after five years. Such applications charge a $100 fee and require a wait of up to 30 days for a decision.

Permit cards are mailed to the successful applicants’ home addresses, but McCoy and Johnson argue they are away from their homes for most of the year. They would be required to wait until the next time their work schedules allowed them to return home to retrieve the document.

“Then, every five years, they would have to follow that same process to renew their permit,” according to the complaint, which added that it would be too costly and burdensome to obtain permits from each contiguous state to remain in compliance with Minnesota’s law.

Both McCoy and Johnson regularly carry their firearms for self-defense, and their lawsuit describes each as “a responsible, peaceable citizen, with no history of violent behavior or other conduct that would pose any threat or danger to the public, and who is not otherwise disqualified from obtaining a Minnesota permit.” The lawsuit describes both truckers as making a point to help stranded motorists, come to the aid of accidents and help law enforcement and emergency workers.

McCoy has been a volunteer firefighter for 12 years and has experience as a licensed firefighter and emergency medical technician. Johnson also previously worked as a firefighter, first responder and emergency medical technician, and he has training in handling explosives. His credentials include a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card that allows access to seaports, airports, military bases and other secure facilities. The TWIC card is issued by the federal government, requires an extensive background check and must be renewed every five years.

Their lawsuit also makes reference to the “prevalence of violent crime against truckers” and notes McCoy has personally been the victim of violent crime.

“As such, he has a reasonable apprehension of fear for his safety and relies on his firearm for self-defense,” the lawsuit reads.

Citing recent Supreme Court case law, the lawsuit argues Minnesota “cannot simply posit that the restriction promotes an important interest” but instead must demonstrate that its regulation “is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Thus, the burden is on Minnesota to prove, based on Founding-era historical tradition, that its refusal to recognize the carry permits of almost two-thirds of Americans with valid firearm permits from other states comports with the original public understanding of the Second Amendment,” according to the lawsuit.

The complaint is the latest to rely on a 2022 Supreme Court decision known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen to try to invalidate a state gun law.

Last year, a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a Minnesota federal judge who declared the state’s ban on carry permits for adults ages 18-20 unconstitutional because it was not consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation.

The court later refused a request from Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office to have the full panel of Eighth Circuit judges rehear the state’s appeal in the case, first filed in 2021.