BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sept. 2, 2026 — The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Pratt v. Westbrook, a case challenging subjective carry permit denials.
SAF is joined in the brief by the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The brief was filed by attorney Jason Guida, who served as local counsel pro bono.
The brief argues that Massachusetts laws related to carry permit issuance, which empower licensing authorities to deny a license to carry based on a subjective determination that an applicant is “unsuitable” or “may create a risk to public safety,” are unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The statutes at issue allow precisely the kind of discretionary “appraisal of facts, exercise of judgment, and formation of an opinion” that Bruen’s footnote 9 held is incompatible with a shall-issue regime.
“Bruen already resolved this question,” said SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros. “A licensing official may check objective, ministerial criteria – prohibited-person status, completed training and the like. What the official may not do is decide whether an applicant ‘may’ pose a risk based on old, unproven allegations. Massachusetts’ suitability standard is textbook subjective discretion, and it cannot stand.”
In this case, Holyoke Police Chief David Pratt denied Westbrook a carry license based on charges from more than a decade earlier that never resulted in a conviction. The brief contends neither Bruen nor the historical tradition of firearm regulation supports permanently (or indefinitely) stripping a law-abiding adult of the right to public carry on the basis of non-conviction allegations from over a decade prior. Recent Supreme Court decisions in United States v. Rahimi and United States v. Hemani confirm that any disarmament of non-convicted persons must be temporary and tied to current dangerousness, and both are limitations the Massachusetts statute lacks.
“Americans who have never been convicted of a crime should not have to live indefinitely under the threat of a subjective veto over a fundamental right,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “This case presents a clear opportunity for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to enforce Bruen’s command and restore the right to carry for people who have already paid their debt to society, or, in this instance, were never convicted in the first place.”
For more information visit SAF.org.
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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