By Mr. Greene
On June 23, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States decided by a 6-3 majority to reject as unconstitutional New York’s long-standing concealed carry law that only granted a few elites the ability to actually carry a handgun in public. The ruling was long overdue, and citizens in that crime-ridden city should celebrate. The violent criminals should look for new hobbies.
What this means is: While it won’t necessarily be legal to carry in public before new legislation is implemented that complies with the ruling, New York City and other “may issue” carry jurisdictions will likely have a very difficult time enforcing their existing carry restrictions. To be certain, we can expect games as anti-gun lawmakers test the ruling’s bounds. Ultimately for gun owners though, it’s a big fucking deal.
“New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms,” wrote SCOTUS Judge Clarence Thomas in the majority opinion. “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.”
Eat that, Chucky Schumer.
For those interested, here’s a little backstory:
In 2008 the Court ruled in the Heller Second Amendment case that “people” meant people and “keep” meant to keep handguns in the home. That made pretty good sense to most of us who can think for ourselves. The Court affirmed that American citizens have the right to own handguns in the home and keep them ready for immediate use for self-defense.
Justice Scalia authored the Heller opinion. He wrote that the government continues to have the power to regulate the carrying of guns in “sensitive places.” The gun control clowns pointed to this wording as supposed evidence that carry can be broadly restricted outside of the home. Like them, this is dumb.
The new ruling affirms that not all places outside of the home can be considered sensitive places.
The New York ruling confirms that the word “bear” in the text of the Second Amendment actually means something. It’s not just a matter of James Madison word vomiting, as if the founders had a habit of doing such things in the brilliant documents that form the bedrock of our society and government. Those supporting the New York City law claimed they appreciated the right to armed defense in the home (keep) but that the right did not extend outside of it (bear). Of course, most violent crime is committed in public settings, so the law made about as much sense as prohibiting the possession of fire extinguishers in kitchens.
For years, only the rich (mostly white) elites were able to get a license to carry handguns for protection in the City. They had to provide a specific “need” for the license; general fear of NYC’s off-the-hook violent crime is not enough. Then a government official would determine whose life was worthy of protection.
But this was not how Constitutional rights were ever supposed to work. Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Sloppy Jerry Nadler are some of the New York racists who think the world is going to come to an end after the Supreme Court’s determination that all lives are worthy of protection.
The brilliant Clarence Thomas had been waiting for the opportunity to write this opinion for as long as he has been on the Court. He has always been angry that the Second Amendment has been treated like the red-headed stepchild in the Bill of Rights but has lacked the friends on the Court to stand with him. But President Trump’s three originalist appointments have finally made his dreams a reality. True Americans of our generation will forever be grateful to Forty Five. For the record, Thomas has been my favorite government official over the last two decades or so.
In the near future I will stop dreading the trips to New York City, New Jersey, and California. Outside of the insane politics that dominate each, it will no longer feel like I’m traveling to a foreign country where I have minimal rights to self-preservation.
Victories for freedom, common sense, and history are too few and far between these days. But today, I am raising a glass to the Founding Fathers and the six justices who believe what those amazing, selfless men did for all future Americans is worth preserving.
