Tennessee Joins 25-State Coalition Defending Second Amendment Rights for Travelers

Tennessee has joined a coalition of 25 states to file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging it to strike down Massachusetts’ unconstitutional firearm licensing requirements for nonresidents.

“Tennesseans’ Second Amendment rights don’t just disappear when they visit Massachusetts,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. “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 brief supports a challenge to a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that upheld the state’s license-to-carry regime—even when applied to law-abiding out-of-state travelers who cannot reasonably comply with the state’s burdensome permitting process.