The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a restrictive New York gun law in a major ruling for gun rights.
The judges̵7; 6-3 decision is expected to eventually allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles and Boston — and elsewhere. Nearly a quarter of the US population lives in states that are likely to be affected by the ruling, which is the High Court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade.
The decision comes as Congress is actively working on gun legislation following the recent mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution “protects the right of a person to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.” In their ruling, the judges struck down a New York law that requires people to demonstrate a special requirement to carry a firearm in order to be licensed to carry it in public. The judges said the requirement violates the Second Amendment right to “have and bear arms.” Similar laws in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island are all likely to be challenged as a result of the ruling. The Biden administration urged judges to uphold New York’s law.
Proponents of New York’s law had argued that toppling it down would eventually lead to more guns on the streets and higher rates of violent crime. The decision comes at a time when gun violence is already on the rise. coronavirus The epidemic has spread again.
Gun owners in most countries have little difficulty legally carrying their weapons in public. But that was harder to do in New York and a handful of states with similar laws. New York law, which has been in force since 1913, states that in order to carry a concealed weapon in public, a person applying for a license must show “reasonable cause,” a specific requirement to carry a weapon.
The state issues unrestricted licenses where a person can carry their gun anywhere and restricted licenses which allow a person to carry a weapon, but only for specific purposes such as hunting and target shooting or their place of business.
The Supreme Court last issued a big gun decision in 2010. In that decision and a 2008 ruling, judges established a nationwide right to have a gun at home for self-defense. This time the question for the court was to be taken out of the house.