In Landmark 2nd Amendment Ruling, SCOTUS Affirms Right ‘To Carry a Handgun for Self-Defense Outside the Home’

In a landmark victory for gun rights advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled 6–3 that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”

In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment secures the right to possess a handgun inside the home for self-defense purposes. In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), that right was applied against state and local governments. Today, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the right was recognized to extend outside of the home.

The case centered on a New York law requiring anyone seeking a license to carry a concealed handgun in public to first satisfy a local official that he has “proper cause” to do so. According to the state, a “generalized” wish to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense purposes was not sufficient to meet the proper cause standard. “In 43 States,” observed the majority opinion of Justice Clarence Thomas, “the government issues licenses to carry based on objective criteria. But in six states, including New York, the government further conditions issuance of a license to carry on a citizen’s showing of some additional special need. Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense,” Thomas continued, “we conclude that the State’s licensing regime violates the Constitution.”

At the heart of the case was the question of whether the discretion that New York placed in the hands of local licensing officials was con