Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced that the state has joined a coalition of 25 states in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The coalition is challenging Massachusetts’ firearm licensing requirements for nonresidents, which they argue are unconstitutional.
“Tennesseans’ Second Amendment rights don’t just disappear when they visit Massachusetts,” said Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “No American should ever face criminal charges for simply exercising their constitutional rights while traveling. Massachusetts’ licensing regime treats nonresidents as second-class citizens by imposing arbitrary and excessive restrictions, and it contradicts both historical tradition and Supreme Court precedent. We joined this brief to defend the principle that constitutional rights travel with every American—not just within their home state, but throughout the entire country.”
The legal brief supports a challenge to a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that upheld the state’s license-to-carry law for out-of-state visitors. The case centers on a New Hampshire resident who was arrested in Massachusetts after voluntarily telling police he had a legally owned firearm but did not have a Massachusetts license. While a trial court dismissed the charges, the state’s highest court reinstated them, citing its permitting process.
According to the coalition’s brief, Massachusetts imposes long delays—between 40 and 170 days—and high fees on nonresidents seeking permits, giving officials broad discretion to deny applications. The brief argues there is no historical basis for barring nonresidents from transporting or possessing firearms while traveling and says such restrictions violate rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
The group of states urges the U.S. Supreme Court to review and overturn the decision by Massachusetts’ top court. States joining Tennessee include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
