September 4, 2025 – New Hampshire and 24 other states want to take Massachusetts to the U.S. Supreme Court in a dispute over gun laws.
Earlier this year, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled that firearm restrictions in Massachusetts apply to visitors from New Hampshire and other states. The court considered two cases involving New Hampshire residents who were charged with unlawfully carrying guns in Massachusetts, even though they got those guns legally in their home state.
“The Second Amendment does not end at the Massachusetts border,” New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement Thursday.
New Hampshire vs. Massachusetts
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts said in its ruling that “the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not absolute,” and the state is not prohibited from “requiring firearm licenses for persons within its borders.”
But the New Hampshire attorney general says the permitting process for nonresidents is “burdensome” and can take up to 170 days. New Hampshire also makes the argument that Constitutional rights “cannot be subject to differing standards based solely on geography.”
The filing uses the Pheasant Lane Mall, which straddles the border of the two states, as an example. It says a New Hampshire resident legally carrying a gun through one part of the mall risks being charged as a felon if they were to visit the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant that’s within Massachusetts borders.
“Massachusetts’s approach treats nonresidents as second-class citizens, imposes arbitrary and excessive restrictions, and contradicts both historical tradition and Supreme Court precedent,” Formella said. “We filed this brief to defend the principle that constitutional rights travel with the individual—not just within their home state, but across the United States.”
Defending Massachusetts gun laws
Texas and Florida are among the states taking New Hampshire’s side. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the state will defend its gun laws if the Supreme Court takes the case.
“Massachusetts has some of the strongest gun safety laws in the country that are enforced consistent with public safety and the Second Amendment,” Campbell said in a statement to WBZ-TV. “My office will continue to defend them against any challenge in order to keep our communities and our Commonwealth safe.”
By Neal Riley, CBS News
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