Tuesday, June 28, 2022

What does New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen really do?

 Not as much as you might believe from listening to the news.

The opinion is here:  New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

What it does is to hold that New York's 1911 vintage Sullivan Act, which required proof of need in order to get a carry permit for personal protection, violated the 14th Amendment by deciding that some people's "need" was more significant than others, and that this violated the 2nd Amendment as well.

It didn't hold that the government can't restrict where firearms go, and that was specifically noted.

Indeed, an irony of the opinion is that it also doesn't say that the government can't require licensing, and New York may in turn respond by making licensing in general more rigid.

This means, in effect, the opinion has a certain "stay tuned" aspect to it.  It's really relatively limited in its impact.

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