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Eight years after refusing to consider a similar appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear the biggest gun rights case in more than a decade, with the newly conservative majority in position to make it easier for millions of Americans to carry firearms in public.
The justices could loosen or strike down a century-old provision in New York that requires people to prove they have a special need for self-protection if they want to carry a concealed handgun outside of their home. The challengers in the suit—backed by the NRA-affiliated New York State Rifle & Pistol Association—argue that the restriction violates the Second Amendment, while the state and gun-safety groups say it’s a life-saving measure that prevents densely populated areas from being flooded with guns.
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Legal experts say the court’s decision to take up the case, after years of turning away numerous Second Amendment-related appeals, suggests there’s a good chance it could choose to change the law. But such a move could have deadly and far-reaching repercussions amid a rise in shootings and firearm purchases nationwide, gun-safety advocates warn.
“It creates a situation where everybody has to arm up in order to protect themselves, creating a virtual arms race,” says Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Giffords Law Center.
Read more: More People Than Ever Are Trying to Carry Guns Onto Planes
Several other states, including California, Massachusetts and Maryland, have laws similar to New York’s that require people to prove to a licensing authority that they have a special need to carry a gun in public. New York’s law defines this as showing “proper cause.” All of them could be impacted, depending on how the court rules.
“It is much bigger than one New York state law,” says John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.
The case is similar to one in 2013 in Westchester County, north of New York City, in which several plaintiffs applied for…
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Source : time
