“The conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday took up its biggest gun rights case in nearly a decade, agreeing to hear a challenge backed by the influential National Rifle Association lobby group to New York City’s strict limits on handgun owners transporting their firearms outside of the home.
“The nine justices will review a 2018 lower court ruling upholding the city’s restrictions after three gun owners and the NRA’s New York state affiliate sued claiming the regulations imposed in the largest American city violated the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
“The decision indicates a new interest regarding gun rights on the court, where conservatives hold a 5-4 majority. The Supreme Court had not taken up a major firearms case since issuing important rulings in 2008 and 2010 that established an individual right to own guns for self-defense inside the home.” (Reuters)
A man buys a gun at the Gun Gallery in Glendale, California.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear a 2nd Amendment case that could limit restrictions on gun owners.
The case concerns a New York City ban on transporting handguns except directly to and from shooting ranges, and requires the weapon to be unloaded and stored in a locked container.
Three handgun owners and the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association challenged the ban, arguing that it unconstitutionally interfered with their right to gun ownership, as well as their right to travel.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the gun owners’ claims, and in February of last year the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.
The gun owners brought their case to the high court in June and asked the justices to reverse the second circuit’s ruling.
“Both the City’s transport ban and the Second Circuit’s decision sanctioning it are extreme outliers even among Second Amendment decisions,” they wrote in one brief. “Indeed, if the Second Circuit’s version of heightened scrutiny is what this Court had in mind in Heller and McDonald, there was little point to recognizing a fundamental, individual right and making it applicable against state and local governments.”
by Tucker Higgins
