The Supreme Court declined a challenge to Minnesota’s ban on out-of-state concealed carry permits, leaving law-abiding gun owners unprotected when they cross state lines.
Justices this week left standing an Eighth Circuit ruling that backed Minnesota’s refusal to honor concealed carry licenses from other states, the Daily Caller reported. The orders list posted Monday included the case among those the Court elected not to hear. The justices offered no comment.
That outcome keeps in place a policy that blocks a long-haul trucker with valid Florida and Georgia permits from carrying for self-defense while he drives through Minnesota. Liberty Justice Center sued on behalf of Jeffrey Johnson in January 2025, naming Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson. After the Eighth Circuit sided with the state, the group petitioned the Supreme Court on Aug. 24.
The fight is not about whether Johnson is a prohibited person. It is about whether a law-abiding citizen who already cleared licensing in two states must start over every time he crosses a border to exercise a constitutional right.
Johnson holds carry licenses from Florida and Georgia. Minnesota will not recognize them. Liberty Justice Center attorney Ryan Morrison told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Minnesota declines to recognize permits from 15 other states as well.
Morrison framed the denial of review as unfinished business, not a loss on the constitutional question itself.
Ryan Morrison said:
"While we had hoped the Supreme Court would take up Johnson v. Jacobson, a denial of certiorari is not a decision on the merits, and the question at the heart of this case remains open: whether a law-abiding American forfeits his Second Amendment right to self-defense simply by crossing a state line."
He added the practical stakes for his client and others like him.
Morrison continued:
"Jeffrey Johnson came forward because, as a long-haul trucker holding valid Florida and Georgia carry licenses, he cannot lawfully protect himself while driving through Minnesota, and he is far from alone, as Minnesota declines to recognize permits from 15 other states. We remain confident that this question will reach the Court in time, and we will keep doing the work to get it there."
A social media post highlighted the same gap: the Second Amendment is one of the few constitutional rights that cannot be reasonably exercised when crossing state lines, with Johnson unable to carry in Minnesota despite valid Florida and Georgia permits.
The cert petition put the Eighth Circuit’s approach in plain terms. It argued that under that court’s view, an individual’s Second Amendment rights are confined to the borders of the state where he holds a firearm permit.
The filing pressed the point further:
"No matter how many times an ordinary law-abiding citizen proves his worth through a state’s firearm licensing process, another state can force him to do it again before he can exercise his ‘constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense.’"
That is the live dispute the Supreme Court declined to resolve. Minnesota’s non-recognition policy stands. So does the Eighth Circuit decision that upheld it. Johnson still cannot lawfully carry through the state on the strength of the licenses he already earned.
The Court’s next conference is set for Friday, when justices again debate which petitions to accept. Separate Second Amendment matters remain in the mix. Duncan v. Bonta, the challenge to California’s ban on magazines holding more than ten rounds, has been discussed for 24 conferences, a record. The Third Circuit on July 17 threw out a similar New Jersey magazine ban on Second Amendment grounds, creating a circuit split. The First Circuit upheld Maine’s three-day waiting period on firearms purchases in Beckwith v. Frey, while the Tenth Circuit in August 2025 struck down a waiting period and overruled a New Mexico district decision. Firearms maker Daniel Defense also appealed to the Court in August in a separate traceability dispute.
None of those cases answers the reciprocity question Johnson raised. A denial of certiorari decides nothing on the merits. It simply leaves the lower-court result in place and the constitutional issue open for another day and another vehicle.
For a trucker whose route runs through Minnesota, the practical result is straightforward. He can be licensed, trained, and cleared in Florida and Georgia, yet he must disarm to stay legal the moment he enters Minnesota. The state treats his existing permits as worthless. Fifteen other states’ permits get the same treatment, according to Johnson’s counsel.
Self-defense does not pause at a welcome sign. Criminals do not check a driver’s licensing paperwork before they act. The Second Amendment right the Supreme Court has already recognized, to bear arms in public for self-defense, becomes a patchwork privilege under Minnesota’s rule. One state’s process is never enough if the next state can demand a do-over.
Liberty Justice Center filed the suit in January 2025 precisely to test that arrangement. The Eighth Circuit backed the state. The Supreme Court has now declined to step in. Morrison’s assessment stands: the merits question is still unresolved, and the work to get it before the justices continues.
Law-abiding Americans should not lose the right to protect themselves the instant they cross a state line.
