The Supreme Court just ruled that the ridiculous concealed-carry requirements imposed by the state of New York, which resulted in the denial of concealed-carry licenses to gun owners for self defense outside the home, violates the 2nd Amendment.
The vote was 6-3 and the opinion of the court was written by Justice Thomas.
In short, “The court holds that New York’s “proper-cause” requirement to obtain a concealed-carry license violates the Constitution by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.”
The dissenters were the activists on the court, of course: Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.
You can read the full opinion here.
UPDATE: Here’s a few quotes from the opinion via Amy Howe at Scotusblog:
The New York “proper cause” requirement violates the Constitution, Thomas explains, because it only allows public-carry licenses when an applicant shows a special need for self-defense.
The court rejects the “two-part” approach used by the courts of appeals in Second Amendment cases. “In keeping with Heller,” Thomas writes, “we hold that when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.”
The government will have to show, Thomas says, that a gun regulation “is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
This test, Thomas adds, “accords with how we protect other constitutional rights.”
The Thomas opinion indicates that it is “settled” that places like polling places and courthouses “were ‘sensitive places’ where arms carrying could be prohibited consistent with the Second Amendment.” And courts can analogize to similar sensitive places, he adds.
On the other hand, Thomas adds, “expanding the category of ‘sensitive places’ simply to all places of public congregation that are not isolated from law enforcement defines the category of ‘sensitive places” far too broadly.”
In this case, Thomas explains, nothing in the Second Amendment distinguishes between home and public “with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.”
“None of the historical limitations on the right to bear arms approach New York’s proper-cause requirement because none operated to prevent law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from carrying arms in public for that purpose.”
This is a great ruling for the people of New York, who will now be able to concealed-carry firearms to protect themselves in a state where lawlessness abounds.
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