No need for suspense: The Supreme Court is going to force New York, and every other state, to issue concealed carry permits to any law-abiding citizen who requests one. The only question left, after oral arguments on Wednesday in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, is whether the conservative supermajority will use sweeping language that casts doubt on the constitutionality of other long-standing restrictions on the right to bear arms. Based on the Republican-appointed justices’ biting questions, we can probably assume it will.
Bruen marks the first time the Supreme Court has considered public carry laws since it created an individual right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. In 2008’s D.C. v. Heller and 2010’s McDonald v. Chicago, the conservative majority held that the Constitution protects the right to keep a handgun “in the home” for self-defense. But what about outside the home? Most states already allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public. Seven states, including New York, do not. These states require residents to show “good cause”—that is, some heightened need for self-defense—to get a permit for concealed carry. About 83 million people, or roughly one in every four Americans, live in a “good cause” state. The lower courts have divided on the constitutionality of “good cause” laws, and SCOTUS took up Bruen to resolve the dispute.
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