Supreme Court Order on Gun Carry Laws is Donald Trump's Legacy
Amy Coney Barrett is likely to support the Second Amendment right to bear arms without showing 'need'
The right to bear arms -- carry a gun -- will finally be decided by the Supreme Court. This is a huge win for supporters of Second Amendment rights. It shows the new majority with the three justices appointed by Pres. Donald Trump is likely to have the votes to overturn the state laws that require showing proof of need to legally carry a gun outside the home.
Now that Pres. Trump’s appointments - Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- are on the bench, it is very likely they have the majority five needed to overturn the appeals courts that are allowing states to make gun laws that prevent people from carrying guns outside the home.
As I wrote earlier today, before this Supreme Court announcement (which freaks me out that it seems I timed this perfectly
The biggest accomplishment of Donald Trump’s one term was filling the federal courts with conservative judges and getting what many believe is a majority pro-Second Amendment on the Supreme Court. So while it’s inevitable that Biden will enact more gun control executive actions and possibly get it through Congress, those laws will have to then stand up in courts in which the presiding judge was chosen by Donald Trump.
The court announced Monday that it was granting cert, which means it will hear this case:
20-843 NEW YORK STATE RIFLE, ET AL. V. CORLETT, KEITH M., ET AL. The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to the following question: Whether the State's denial of petitioners' applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.
This specific case will determine whether it is constitutional for two New York residents to be denied carry permits by the state police for not being able to demonstrate a "proper cause.” The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association is backing the case in partnership with the NRA. (Corlett is the superintendent of the police.)
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the state law on “proper cause” as it has done multiple times in the past and the Supreme Court kept refusing to hear appeals.
But there’s a new sheriff in town now and her name is Amy Coney Barrett.
The case will be the other half of the landmark Heller decision that established the individual right to have a gun -- the interpretation of the right to “keep arms.’ The justice will decide if the right to “bear arms” can be limited by states by showing a need.
The Court was specific on what it is deciding so it will not go into specifics like carrying without a permit (“constitutional carry”) or training requirements.
The country has been divided into circuit courts that say states can and cannot refuse to let people carry guns outside the home unless they can prove a need, like threats against them or carrying money.
This is how I got my first carry permit in DC, when the city was briefly “may issue” and I showed that I had threats against my life. Watch my report from 2015 on getting my carry permit here: FOX 5's Emily Miller gets DC gun carry permit approved
Once DC stopped fighting in court -- to prevent getting to SCOTUS and having another Heller situation -- the city became “may issue” so now anyone can get a permit to carry in DC if you meet the requirements of training, a class with their certified instructors and pass a background check.
So when the Supreme Court will rule on this New York circuit case, it will then apply to all other circuits that have allowed states to write gun laws to restrict carry outside the home. Those of us who have watched these gun control cases for years believed the high court was refusing to take a gun carry case because the pro-Second Amendment justices knew they didn’t have the votes to win.
For Americans who live in the states that have denied their right to bear arms and carry a gun outside the home -- where you’re more likely to be a victim of crime-- the news today from DC may be life changing.
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