“Sensitive places” is the new name for gun-free zones, courtesy of the U.S. Supreme Court. In his majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote: “Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”
There are lots of problems with this passage; today, the topic is those “sensitive places” and the mischief anti-gun legislatures are creating.
While Scalia mentioned only schools and government buildings, he added a footnote saying: “We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be exhaustive.”
In addition to the designation of schools as gun-free zones, states had already added courtrooms, jails and prisons, certain health care facilities, polling places, amusement parks, and athletic playing fields and stadiums. However, after the 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen upheld Heller, anti-gun states like New York went crazy, adding as many new gun-free zones as possible, including Times Square. California concealed carry permits became nearly worthless.
By Bill Cawthon
