Sen. Cruz Files Amicus Brief Defending Second Amendment, Pushes for Interstate Recognition of Firearm Permits

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Gardner v. Maryland. The brief advocates for expanding reciprocity for interstate firearm permit holders in keeping with the Second Amendment.

Excerpts from the amicus brief are below, and the full text of the brief can be viewed here.

“If the Second Amendment means anything, it must protect Americans who act in lawful self-defense while simply traveling on the public roads of the United States.

“This case presents an enormously important Second Amendment question about the self-defense rights of interstate travelers, one that has been given short shrift by federal and state courts. The right to self-defense means little if it ends a short distance from your door.

“The United States has long recognized the need to exempt travelers from gun control laws. The need for an exemption could not be clearer than for permitting schemes like Maryland’s that are outside the American historical tradition. This Court should reaffirm the analysis it required in Bruen and restore the right of the People to self-defense in interstate travel.”

Sen. Cruz was joined in filing the amicus brief by Sens. Jim Justice (R-W.V.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

BACKGROUND

In January 2021, Eva Marie Gardner, a Virginian with a valid concealed-carry permit, was driving through Maryland to her mother’s home in Pennsylvania when another driver rammed her car twice and forced her off the highway using a PIT maneuver. The driver approached Gardner’s vehicle, putting Gardner in fear of an imminent attack, and in response she displayed her handgun in an attempt to make him back away. When police arrived, they released the aggressor and arrested Gardner for possessing a loaded handgun in Maryland without a Maryland permit. The court rejected her self-defense and Second Amendment arguments and convicted her under Maryland law.