Today the Supreme Court released an opinion in the case of New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen.
In a 6-3 decision, the majority of Justices decided that New York’s requirement of an individual to “demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community” in order to carry a firearm outside the home is unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN a New York gun-control law that required people to show "proper cause" to get a license to carry a concealed handgun outside the home. The vote is 6-3. https://t.co/jA2Gl7lTiG
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 23, 2022
Clarence Thomas issued the court’s majority opinion. He was joined by Justices Roberts, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Alito, and Barrett. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan made up the dissent.
In the majority opinion, Thomas wrote that “New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and
bear arms in public for self-defense.”
This ruling could have far-reaching implications. Other jurisdictions such as Washington, DC have a similar threshold of burdening individuals by requiring them to prove their need to carry firearms outside the home. Maryland and California also fall into the category of “may issue” states and their laws could be next on the chopping block.
In the dissenting opinion, Justice Breyer wrote that he believes “the Court wrongly limits its analysis to focus nearly exclusively on history. It refuses to consider the government interests that justify a challenged gun regulation, regardless of how compelling those interests may be.”
The National Rifle Association (NRA) celebrated the decision, tweeting that the decision confirms one of the organization’s long-held beliefs: that “the right to self-defense and to defend your family and loved ones should not end at your home.”
“Today’s ruling is a watershed win for good men and women all across America and is the result of a decades-long fight the NRA has led. The right to self-defense and to defend your family and loved ones should not end at your home." –Wayne LaPierre https://t.co/v3f3Uh8C88
— NRA (@NRA) June 23, 2022
Congressman Steve Scalise – House Republican Whip – shared a similar sentiment via Twitter.
The Supreme Court makes it clear: Stripping law-abiding citizens of their 2nd Amendment rights is unconstitutional.
Big win for freedom! https://t.co/zBqZ4CiBMv
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) June 23, 2022
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley called out his Senate colleagues for working to strip Americans of their Second Amendment rights while the Supreme Court upheld them.
Big win for the Second Amendment at the Supreme Court – on the day the Senate is voting to chip away at Second Amendment rights
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) June 23, 2022
This article originally appeared in American Liberty News. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Republican Standard. Republished with permission.