Gun rules in Massachusetts apply to visitors from New Hampshire, Supreme Judicial Court rules
New Hampshire gun owners who cross state lines have to follow Massachusetts firearm laws, the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston has ruled.
The high court was considering two cases involving New Hampshire residents who were charged with unlawfully carrying guns after being arrested in Massachusetts, even though they were legally allowed to have those guns in their home state.
In one case, the court dismissed charges against New Hampshire man Dean Donnell Jr. because he was charged in 2021, before Massachusetts updated its gun laws to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded concealed carry rights.
Massachusetts was previously one of a handful of states that gave officials wide discretion to deny a gun permit to an applicant before the court's ruling forced changes, and the state court agreed with Donnell that the old rules had been deemed unconstitutional.
Commonwealth vs. Philip Marquis
But in the second case that occurred after gun laws were updated, the court ruled current Massachusetts firearm licensing rules are constitutional and don't discriminate against New Hampshire residents. In that case, New Hampshire defendant Philip Marquis got in a car crash on Interstate 495 in Massachusetts and told responding police officers that he had a pistol on him. He was not licensed to carry the gun in Massachusetts.
The court said in its rulings "we emphasize that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not absolute" and Massachusetts is not prohibited from "requiring firearm licenses for persons within its borders."
Attorneys general battle over gun laws
The attorneys general from both states had weighed in on the cases.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said state law applies evenly to residents and non-residents.
"Nothing in the Constitution prohibits Massachusetts law enforcement officers from enforcing state law within its own borders, simply because someone is from a different state," a brief filed by Campbell said.
On Tuesday her counterpart in New Hampshire, Attorney General John Formella, slammed the court's decision as one that "oversteps and disregards the rights of law-abiding citizens, particularly those from states like New Hampshire where gun rights are respected."
"The SJC's ruling undermines the core principles of the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms for all Americans, regardless of state residence," Formella said in a statement. "We will continue fighting to protect the rights of New Hampshire residents and oppose any efforts to limit those rights through overly restrictive licensing schemes."
