2A Win for Gun Owners! Supreme Court Smacks Down NY Carry Law

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that New York’s Concealed Carry Law has too high of a bar for gun owners, and this violates the Second Amendment. It’s a 2A win for gun owners, although the justices called the ruling limited in its scope and did not preclude states from having restrictions. The case was New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

The New York concealed carry rule required CCW applicants to prove they had a legitimate need to carry a gun. The rule also gave New York officials the ability to have “discretion” – and needing it for self-defense outside the home was not good enough. The law, which is around 100 years old, allowed NY officials to block the vast majority of applicants from obtaining a permit. They essentially had a “may issue” rule instead of a “shall issue” rule.

“In this case, petitioners and respondents agree that ordinary, law-abiding citizens have a similar right to carry handguns publicly for their self-defense. We too agree, and now hold, consistent with Heller and McDonald, that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. 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…

As we stated in Heller and repeated in McDonald, ‘individual self-defense is ‘the central component’ of the Second Amendment right.’ Heller made clear that restrictions on carrying guns in ‘sensitive places” is permissible, and how New York was wrong for arguing that it’s law was merely doing just that.

Justice Clarence Thomas (Fox)

Of course, New York liberals are throwing a fit over the decision, calling it “reprehensible” and dangerous to citizens. But the ruling does NOT preclude states from having regulations for CCW permits, it only says that extraordinary requirements are not Constitutional. Democrats are literally screaming over the ruling. And they’re using those time worn lies about New York becoming the “wild west.” And Biden expressed his “disappointment” over the decision.

“We have been preparing for this decision and will continue to do everything possible to work with our federal, state, and local partners to protect our city. Those efforts will include a comprehensive review of our approach to defining ‘sensitive locations’ where carrying a gun is banned, and reviewing our application process to ensure that only those who are fully qualified can obtain a carry license … we cannot allow New York to become the Wild West.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams (New York Post)

Fortunately among the 6 conservative justices, there is a modicum of common sense as opposed to the three justices that dissented: Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan.

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“Does the dissent think that laws like New York’s prevent or deter such atrocities? Will a person bent on carrying out a mass shooting be stopped if he knows that it is illegal to carry a handgun outside the home?

And how does the dissent account for the fact that one of the mass shootings … took place in Buffalo? The New York law at issue in this case obviously did not stop that perpetrator.”

Justice Samuel Alito (New York Post)

This is a 2A win, but it remains to be seen how nasty the backlash will become. The key to remember is that rules that are too restrictive for ordinary people are not Constitutional. Don’t worry, Democrats can’t figure that out.