US: Top court rules Americans have right to carry guns in public
The US Supreme Court on Thursday rejected as unconstitutional New York state’s limits on carrying concealed handguns in public.
It is expected that the justices’ 6-3 decision could ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of New York and other large cities such as Los Angeles and Boston.
The ruling — the high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade — follows a series of recent mass shootings.
Why is the decision important?
New York’s law — in place since 1913 — says that, to carry a concealed handgun, a person must have “proper cause.”
An individual would have to convince a state firearms licensing officer of a real, rather than speculative, need for self-defense. Licences could also be granted for activities such as hunting or target practice.
The challenge was brought by the New York State Rifle Pistol Association. Two men were seeking an unrestricted ability to carry guns outside their homes.
Backers of the New York law says it ultimately prevents people from carrying guns on the streets, leading to less violent crime.
However, justices said the requirement violates the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
The last decision the Supreme Court made on a major gun issue was in 2010 when it established a nationwide right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.
What happens now?
About a quarter of the US population lives in states now likely to be affected by the precedent-setting decision.
Challenges to similar laws are now likely in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams warned that the decision “may have opened an additional river feeding the sea of gun violence.”
“We will work together to mitigate the risks this decision will create once it is implemented, as we cannot allow New York to become the Wild West,” he said in a statement.
The US Congress is currently working on gun legislation in the wake of mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.
The adminstration of US President Joe Biden had urged the justices to uphold the New York law. Responding to the decision, Biden said he was “deeply disappointed.” He urged states to keep on enacting and enforcing “commonsense” laws to keep citizens safe from gun violence.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the decision came at a particularly painful time, after 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo. “This decision isn’t just reckless. It’s reprehensible. It’s not what New Yorkers want,” she said.
rc/rt (AFP, Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/us-top-court-rules-americans-have-right-to-carry-guns-in-public/a-62238568?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf