U.S. Supreme Court Overturns NY Gun Law…
In a significant expansion of gun rights following a series of mass shootings, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, June 23rd that Americans have the right to carry firearms in public for self-defense. This decision is likely to result in more individuals being legally armed. The decision was made as Congress and the states discussed passing gun control legislation following the Buffalo supermarket shooting and the Uvalde School Shooting.
The decision, which struck down a New York gun ban, is projected to have an impact on almost a fourth of the states in the United States. The high court’s first significant gun decision in more than ten years saw a 6-3 split in the court, with the conservatives in the majority.
In a statement, President Joe Biden expressed his “profound disappointment” with the Supreme Court’s ruling. He remarked that it “should greatly trouble us all” since it “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution.”
He urged states to enact new laws relating to this matter, “I urge citizens all throughout the country to speak and make their voices known and heard on gun safety.” Lives are at stake, he declared.
According to the Sullivan Act, dated as far back as 1911, New Yorkers are expected to show “due and proper cause” that a handgun is required for self-defense to acquire a permit to carry one in public. This law was challenged by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association and two upstate residents, claiming it infringed on their Second Amendment rights.
A top police officer has warned that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a century-old New York gun law will result in a massive increase in the number of firearms held by “criminals,” turning the Empire State into the “Wild East.”
In an interview that was broadcast on Sunday, June 26th on “The Cats Roundtable” hosted by John Catsimatidis, NYPD Deputy Commissioner John Miller predicted that as a result of the high court’s decision to overturn a law restricting the carrying of concealed firearms, the number of people permitted to carry guns in New York City will “rise.”
Miller, the deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism for the NYPD, stated that overturning the law would lead to an increase in the suicide rate as well as accidental shootings by children as a result of improper use and handling of guns by parents. He also said that the number of dangerous criminals and lawbreakers who end up owning firearms would increase.
He added that nobody really has a story to tell that demonstrates how these types of reforms in other areas have resulted in tremendous good.
Still on Supreme Court’s ruling on New York Gun Law…
Miller said, “We do know that if you go into a situation where there’s a lot of restricted locations where you cannot carry your firearm — whether that’s hospitals or schools — that people tend to leave those in cars, the cars tend to get broken into, and the guns tend to get stolen, which means that legally obtained guns are now turning into illegal guns in the hands of criminals.”
For the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that the Constitution guarantees “the right of a person to carry a pistol for self-defense outside the home.”
The states affected by this overturning include New York, California, Maryland, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island as they all have similar laws. It is anticipated that the laws in these states will be quickly challenged.
Governor Kathy Hochul said the decision came at a particularly difficult moment as the state mourned the loss of 10 people in a massacre at a Buffalo supermarket. “This decision is more than just careless or reckless. It is abhorrent.” She stated that New Yorkers don’t want it.
Gun control organizations have referred to the decision as a major setback. Michael Waldman, an expert on the Second Amendment and president of the Brennan Center for Justice, stated on Twitter that the ruling could be the Supreme Court’s “largest expansion of gun rights” in American history.
On Thursday, June 23rd, Mayor Eric Adams joined other Democratic city council members in denouncing the decision, stating that the ruling has “rendered every single one of us less safe from gun violence.”
“There have already been 277 documented mass shootings since the beginning of this year, or more than one every day,” Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said. He charged his colleagues in the majority with making these decisions “without considering the possibly catastrophic consequences.” He claimed that the decision will make it “severely” more difficult for states to enact regulations “that limit, in various ways, who may acquire, carry, or use firearms of different kinds.”
Other conservative justices who concurred with Thomas’ majority ruling also contributed their opinions.
Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh both emphasized the decision’s limitations. According to Kavanaugh, states are still permitted to demand that individuals obtain a license before carrying a weapon and to impose additional conditions on that license, such as “fingerprinting, a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling and in-laws regarding the use of force.”
