Drivers in all walks of life face threats on the job, but over-the-road truckers spend weeks at a time away from home supporting themselves and their loved ones. And as anyone who reads the news knows, they need protection.
That’s why Jeffrey Johnson sued Minnesota officials over the state’s stubborn refusal to recognize the carry permits he holds in both Florida and Georgia.
The commercial truck driver asked the U.S. Supreme Court last week to step in and right this obvious wrong.
Travelers magically transform into criminals by crossing internal boundaries
Constitutional freedoms should not evaporate when a law-abiding citizen crosses a state line, and the Liberty Justice Center (LJC) wants to take his fight to the high court. At issue? Minnesota’s lack of reciprocity with 15 states that do not toe their line on the Second Amendment.
Both Florida and Georgia are constitutional carry states, but they still issue permits to gun owners such as Johnson who need them to carry elsewhere lawfully.
LJC Senior Counsel Ryan Morrison noted the unworkable patchwork of carry laws that can make criminals out of Johnson and others for rights they should enjoy everywhere as Americans.
Truck drivers should not need dozens of permits to carry
“Once a person proves he is a law-abiding citizen, he is entitled to carry a gun in public for self-defense,” Morrison declared. “Constitutional rights, the Second Amendment included, do not require someone to prove their worthiness to exercise their civil liberties over and over again.”
Indeed, gun owners would need “a Rolodex of firearm licenses” to comply with the law on a coast-to-coast trip, and not just truck drivers.
Just four years ago, the Supreme Court upheld the individual right to carry for self-defense away from home. Bruen eliminated the requirement to prove a “special need” while upholding states’ obligation to ensure those bearing arms are “law-abiding, responsible citizens.”
Minnesota remains an outlier in acknowledging that other jurisdictions did their due diligence in issuing a carry permit. A high court ruling would go far in eliminating the instant criminalization of domestic travelers, and this is a golden opportunity for exactly that.
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