A highly restrictive New York gun law was struck down by the US Supreme Court today
A 6-3 ruling against an overly restrictive New York gun law was issued by the US Supreme Court today, striking the law down as being unconstitutionally restrictive.
The law in question pertained to acquiring a license for concealed carrying of a handgun in New York and required an applicant to show “proper cause” in seeking a license, and gave discretion to New York officials. The application would be denied if the official did not consider the cause “proper” enough. Wanting to protect oneself or one’s property was not regarded as a sufficient cause.
In short, an exceptionally liberal or anti-gun official could summarily deny all applications, infringing on the applicant’s Second Amendment rights if they chose to do so. Furthermore, requiring highly specific reasoning, coupled with an inherently arbitrary system, meant that the right to defend oneself was violated.
Within the Court’s opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that
“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.”
Justices Alito and Kavanaugh also argued that citing a “specific threat” rather than simply stating that you live in a high-crime area and leave work late, for example, violated the core concepts of the right to self-defense.
The New York law was thus ruled unconstitutionally restrictive and violated the right to self-defense.
This was the first major gun rights case before the Supreme Court in over a decade, and to many it seems to be a decisive Second amendment victory.
