Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of April 26

NPR: Supreme Court To Take Up 1st Major Gun Rights Case In More Than A Decade

In a major foray into gun rights, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a lower court ruling that upheld New York's restrictive gun-permit law.

At issue in the case, NY State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Corlett, is how much the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to carry concealed weapons outside their home for self-defense. The case will likely be argued in the fall.

While most states permit gun owners to carry their firearms when they go out, New York and seven other states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island — have some restrictions.

To elaborate, what is being challenged is the “may-issue” provisions of New York’s concealed carry law. Most states are “shall-issue”, meaning if you take a class and pass the test, you can carry a concealed firearm in public. However, New York and the other states listed also require “good cause” to carry for self-defense. This definition is vague, and issuance varies by county; upstate counties act similar to shall-issue jurisdictions, while in New York City (which requires your permit be issued in NYC), good luck getting anything if you aren’t a celebrity, connected to the mayor, or are a jewel dealer or similar. Former President Trump is well-known by some gun enthusiasts for having had a NYC permit. Additionally, may-issue laws have been criticized for being biased/racist (the law in the case dates back to 1911, one of the earliest convictions was of an Italian immigrant) and corrupt (one of the ways to get a permit in many cases is a, ahem, donation to the sheriff’s re-election campaign).