By Oriana Gonzalez | Axios
A New York law that requires people applying to get a license to carry a concealed weapon to show that they have “proper cause” to carry a gun violates the Constitution, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Driving the news: The majority opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, says that it is a constitutional right to carry a weapon in public for self-defense purposes.
Details: The New York law prevents “law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms in public,” Thomas wrote in the 6-3 ruling.
- The ruling will have major implications for gun control laws across the country as the U.S. also struggles with an epidemic of gun violence.
- Thomas concluded that there are no “historical limitations on the right to bear arms” because no limitations have ever been sent to stop a person from carrying a gun in public if they do so for self-defense.
- “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. … [I]t is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.”
- The court’s three liberal justices — Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonya Sotomayor — dissented.
