Gun Control laws getting kicked in the teeth

In case you failed to notice a while back, the Supreme Court came down on the side of sanity and recognized concealed  gun carry as a Constitutional right (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen) and opened the door for challenging restrictive gun laws across the country.

Concealed carry is legal everywhere with restrictions – if the state requires a permit, either the state is a “shall issue” state which issues a permit unless there is a good enumerated reason not to, or a “may issue” state which says you have to get permission from someone which can be withheld if they don’t like you. Or your car. Or your political party. (For a good example, see New York’s Sullivan Law – connected people could get permits with no problem, the hoi polloi were unable to get approved.)

“The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not ‘a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees,’” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority at the time. “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need.”    Fox News

In the wake of the decision, anti-gun states (funny, all Democrat controlled) like New York and Massachusetts enacted numerous new regulations to prevent anyone from actually carrying. New York, for instace, banned any carry in a myriad of places, including parks – the effect of which meant even Revolutionary reenactors could be breaking the law.

The new law, which went into effect Sept. 1, broadly expanded who could get a handgun license, but it increased training requirements for applicants and required them to turn over more private information, including a list of everyone living in their home. The state also created a long list of places where firearms would be banned.

Suddaby’s ruling upheld the state’s right to exclude guns from certain “sensitive locations,” but only in instances where there were “historical analogues” for such rules, meaning guns have been banned from such places in the past.

Rules prohibiting most people from carrying guns into schools, government buildings, polling places and places of worship were OK, the judge wrote. But the state couldn’t put new bans on people from carrying handguns on public transportation systems, in summer camps or places where alcohol is consumed.  Fox5NY

Massachusetts enacted a law that even a non-violent misdemeanor  could disqualify someone.

The Massachusetts case — Morin v. Lyver — concerned the plaintiff being denied a new firearm license because he had two out-of-state misdemeanor convictions for weapons possession.

The Supreme Court on Monday vacated the ruling by a lower court that found the Massachusetts law constitutional.   NYPost

The Supremes ruled against both states.

Morin’s violations, by the way, were that he traveled from Mass. to DC with the concealed weapon for which he had a Mass. concealed carry license. When he saw a ‘no guns’ sign at the American History Museum he asked a guard where to check his gun – and found himself arrested. No reciprocity between DC and Mass. Not like he robbed a liquor store… but does show you need to check out LOCAL laws whenever you travel, not just assume your state laws apply all over the country.  Hmm… you would think a gun license should be like a driver’s license: get it in one state, drive in all of them.  If you don’t already, you should approach all your Congresscritters and push them so to support national reciprocity.

Category: Gun Grabbing Fascists, Legal, The Constitution