For the first time in over a decade, the Supreme Court will be reviewing a Second Amendment case. The last Second Amendment ruling was in 2008 when the majority ruled that a person has the right to keep a gun in their home for self-defense. This case was District of Columbia v. Heller. The new law in review will set extremely strict limits on who can carry a gun outside of their home. State Attorney General Letitia James will be representing New York in this case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett.
The case will decide if the federal government and states have the right to impose gun control laws. New York does hold some of the restricted gun laws in the country, but they are not alone in these laws. Massachusettes, California, and New Jersey all require their citizens to apply for a license to carry a concealed handgun in public. This case challenges these laws as a result of two men who were denied gun licenses. The men are suing with the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association because they claim that the state of New York “makes it virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen to obtain a license.” The Supreme court has agreed to answer the following prompt: “whether the state’s denial of petitioners’ application for concealed carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “This NRA-backed case is a massive threat to that security. Imagine someone carrying a gun through Times Square, onto the subway, or to a tailgate outside of a Bills game. The NRA’s goal here is to shift the onus onto regular New Yorkers, police officers, security guards, and first responders to determine whether an armed individual poses a threat or is simply carrying for self-defense. The streets of New York are not the O.K. Corral, and the NRA’s dream of a society where everyone is terrified of each other and armed to the teeth is abhorrent to our values.” Gov. Cuomo vowed that the state would fight the case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett.
The president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Tom King, made a statement saying, “We decided that we were going to try to change that and make sure that New York state residents who want a pistol permit or a concealed carry permit are given the same protections under the law that everybody else in the other 42 states are given.”
At the start of the Supreme Court’s next term beginning the first Monday of October, the Supreme Court will hear this case.
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