The Supreme Court listened to arguments on a major gun rights case Wednesday. The case, New York State Rifle Pistol Association. v. Bruen, looks at New York’s restrictive gun permit laws. The audio above includes clips from oral arguments.
“New York prohibits its ordinary law-abiding citizens from carrying a handgun outside the home without a license, and it denies licenses to every citizen who fails to convince the state that he or she has ‘proper cause’ to carry a firearm,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in their petition for writ of certiorari. “The question presented is whether the Second Amendment allows the government to prohibit ordinary law-abiding citizens from carrying handguns outside the home for self-defense.”
The New York law being reviewed by the court has been in place since 1913. Gun owners in the state who get a license are either issued an unrestricted license or a restricted license. An unrestricted license gives them the broad ability to carry a weapon in public. A restricted license only allows them to carry a gun in certain situations like hunting or target shooting, traveling for work or when in backcountry areas.
Gun rights advocates want the Supreme Court to say the New York law is too restrictive. Such a ruling could dramatically increase the number of people eligible to carry firearms in the state.
Meanwhile, the state of New York says the Supreme Court siding with the plaintiffs would have “devastating consequences for public safety”. The Biden administration is urging the justices to uphold New York’s law. The administration says California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have similar laws that could be affected by the court’s ruling.
The court last issued major gun rights decisions in 2008 and 2010. Those decisions established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. However, they didn’t say anything about carrying a gun in public for self-defense.
Wednesday’s gun rights case comes two days after the Supreme Court heard arguments on Texas’ restrictive abortion law.
