The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a New York state law restricting residents’ ability to obtain a concealed carry permit that allows them to carry a gun in public.
The law is which has been on the books for more than 100 yearsResidents applying for concealed carry permits were required to give a reason why they wanted to carry a gun while in public. The Supreme Court ruled against the statute 6-3 on partisan grounds. They claimed that the restrictions were excessively burdensome and not in accordance with the Second Amendment.
“Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the State’s licensing regime violates the Constitution,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the majority opinion, adding that governments “may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest” when it comes to regulating guns.
In his dissent, Stephen Breyer, the outgoing Justice, stated that conservative members of Court were dismissive of the need to tighten gun restrictions. His dissent began with statistics on gun violence. He noted that more than 45,000 Americans were killed in 2020 by firearms and that there have been 277 mass killings in this year alone.
“Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence just described by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds. The Court today severely burdens States’ efforts to do so,” Breyer wrote.
Legal experts agree. the ruling will go beyond changing the New York statuteThis will cause lower courts in other jurisdictions, as well as the government, to reexamine their approach to gun laws analysis.
“We’re in for a whole new slew of litigation challenging any and every gun-control measure in light of the analysis in today’s ruling,” CNN Supreme Court analyst Steve Vladeck said.
This ruling comes amid a rash of mass shootings in the U.S. during the past few weeks, including the murder of 19 children and two teachers Late May at Uvalde Elementary School in Texas. As the Senate passed a procedural vote on legislation intended to address gun violence on Thursday, President Joe Biden expressed dismay at the Supreme Court’s action, saying that he was “deeply disappointed” and that the decision “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution.”
