Supreme Court Rules 6-3 In Favor Of Gun Rights

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES HOLDS 6-3 IN STRIKING DOWN NEW YORK STATE’S CCW LAW — MASSIVE IMPACT FOR ALL 50 STATES

This morning the SCOTUS ruled 6-3 in favor of Second Amendment rights in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. ET AL. Vs. Bruen.

In the opinion, authored by Justice Clarance Thomas, the court holds:

“New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment 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.”

Furthermore in Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence:

“Going forward, therefore, the 43 States that employ objective shall-issue licensing regimes for carrying handguns for self-defense may continue to do so. Likewise, the 6 States including New York potentially affected by today’s decision may continue to require licenses for carrying handguns for self-defense so long as those States employ objective licensing requirements like those used by the 43 shall-issue States.”

Effectively, the ruling will eventually force all 50 states to adopt what is in essence a “shall-issue” stance on concealed carry weapons permits. This does NOT change the law right now but gives state law the framework it must hold to. Failing to do so will result in litigation and almost a guaranteed win for gun owners.

To reiterate, this does not change the law right now — you must hold to your state’s present CCW laws. But those laws might change in the coming years.

While the immediate effects of this ruling are limited, this is a massive win for gun owners across the land. About a dozen cases in lower courts have been put on hold waiting for this ruling and will now be decided.

The other huge win in this ruling is it holds that intermediate and strict scrutiny are no longer the standards in adjudicating 2A cases. Instead, lower courts must use “Text, history, and tradition” to interpret Second Amendment law.

Basically, this is legal talk that lower courts must judge cases with a much narrower view and cannot trample gun rights because the state claims there is a public good. 

The ruling is 135-pages long and will take time for people to fully process. We will update this article as more information comes to light.

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