After the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, and so many other places, it is deeply distressing that the Supreme Court on Thursday dramatically expanded gun rights and limited the ability of the government to prevent gun violence.
In a 6-3 decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court declared unconstitutional a New York law that limited the ability to have concealed weapons in public. The decision is, by far, the most expansive reading of the 2nd Amendment in American history, and its approach will put countless laws regulating firearms in serious jeopardy.
The case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Bruen, involved a New York law adopted in 1911 that prohibits having concealed weapons in public without a permit. Under the law, a person can obtain a concealed weapons permit only by demonstrating “a special need for self-protection.” California has a similar law that requires a permit for possessing a concealed weapon. Getting such a license requires, among other things, showing that having a concealed weapon is necessary because the person or a family member is in danger. These laws recognize that concealed weapons in public pose a grave danger, including to law enforcement officers.
