NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee is among the 25 states that have filed a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court against "Massachusetts's overzealous application of its unconstitutional license-to-carry regime."

On Friday, state Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced that Tennessee joined 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 in the filing of an amicus brief. An amicus brief is a filing that comes from individuals or other groups not directly involved with a given case, but who have a vested interest in the matter.

The Supreme Court case in question is Marquis v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which according to Skrmetti's office involves a New Hampshire man who was arrested and charged in Massachusetts after he elected to tell officers that he was carrying a legally-owned firearm — but he did not have a license in Massachusetts.

Skrmetti's office added that while a trial court dismissed the man's charges, Massachusetts' highest court reinstated the charges and cited the state's licensing framework.

“Tennesseans’ Second Amendment rights don’t just disappear when they visit Massachusetts,” Skrmetti said in a press release. “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."

The brief calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision of Massachusetts' highest court. The coalition argues that the case presents a "recurring Second Amendment issue with significant implications" for citizens' everyday lives, as well as a "clear violation of historical tradition."

The Attorneys General for the coalition also write that current Massachusetts law makes nonresidents wait an "unreasonable" amount of time and pay "a substantial amount of money" to obtain their licenses in the commonwealth.

"Amici States stand steadfast in their position that states like Massachusetts cannot take this important right [to carry a firearm in public for self-defense] away from their citizens," the brief reads, in part. "...Americans earned the fundamental constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense by ratifying the Second and Fourteenth Amendments."

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-news/tn-amicus-brief-marquis-ma/