By: Teresa Mull

A group of young adults from Minnesota is suing over a state law that requires people to be at least 21 years of age to carry a gun.

Three gun rights organizations – the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC), Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition – have filed jointly with the young adults.

“There is simply no legal or constitutional justification that an entire class of adult citizens in Minnesota should be completely denied their fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms,” said Bryan Strawser, chairman of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus (MGOC), according to the Star Tribune.

Kristin Worth, 18, one of the plaintiffs, says in the lawsuit that she wants to carry for self-defense, because she works at a grocery store and must often cross a parking lot alone at night.

Other plaintiffs cite similar concerns, and the suit notes that young adults have, since Colonial times, been encouraged to keep and bear arms. Being 18 years old also makes one a legal adult in society in several other important aspects of being a responsible citizen: namely, being eligible for the draft and voting.

“The lawsuit names state Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington as a defendant as well as Mille Lacs County Sheriff Don Lorge, Douglas County Sheriff Troy Wolbersen and Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry, the sheriffs in the counties where the young adults live,” reports MPR News.

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.