June 23rd, 2022
By Nicole Wells
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., took to Twitter on Thursday to commend the Supreme Court’s decision that struck down a New York law that regulated who is allowed to carry a concealed gun in public.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholds the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms and correctly declares New York’s shameful attempt to shred Second Amendment rights of New Yorkers unconstitutional,” Stefanik said.
“While the Far-Left continues to push unconstitutional gun control measures as New York’s failed bail reform policies have made our communities more unsafe, this ruling comes at a crucial time,” she added. “Now, law-abiding gun owners in New York State and across the nation can again exercise their Constitutional right to concealed carry to protect themselves and their families.”
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative majority ruled that requiring people to show a particular need for carrying a gun in order to obtain a license to carry one in public violated the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
NBC 4 reports that the decision is the high court’s first major gun ruling in more than 10 years and is expected to eventually allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. Approximately a quarter of the U.S. population lives in states expected to be impacted by the decision, according to the news outlet.
“Shocking, absolutely shocking that they have taken away our right to have reasonable restrictions,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in reaction to the ruling. “We can have restrictions on speech. You can’t yell fire in a crowded theater, but somehow there is not restrictions allowed on the Second Amendment?”
The ruling comes amid a bipartisan effort in Congress to push gun legislation through following a recent spate of mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.
According to NBC 4, New York’s concealed carry law has been in place since 1913 and required that anyone applying for a concealed handgun license first show “proper cause.” Courts in New York have determined that means someone must demonstrate a special need to defend themselves.
Two men whose applications for unrestricted licenses were denied and a gun-rights advocacy group were challenging the long-standing state law.
The case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, was argued before the court in November. Kevin Bruen is the superintendent of the New York State Police.
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