Supreme Court Takes Up Major NRA-Backed Gun Rights Case

 The Supreme Court on Monday decided to take up a major, National Rifle Association (NRA)-backed lawsuit that challenges a New York law restricting an individual from carrying a concealed handgun in public.

It has been more than 10 years since the Supreme Court weighed in on a significant case involving the Second Amendment, coming in the wake of President Joe Biden’s and top Democrats’ recent push for more gun-control initiatives including bans on so-called “ghost guns,” proposing models for “red flag” laws, and expanding and lengthening background checks.'

“The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to the following question: Whether the State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment,” reads a brief order (pdf) from the high court on Monday.

Over the years, the NRA and other gun rights groups have criticized the Supreme Court for not taking up any major lawsuits relating to the Second Amendment. In 2008, the court said for the first time that the Second Amendment protects Americans’ rights to keep and bear arms for self-defense at home.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, considered possibly the most conservative justice, wrote several years ago that courts have engaged in a “general failure to afford the 2nd Amendment the respect due an enumerated constitutional right.” Going further, he wrote: “If a lower court treated another right so cavalierly, I have little doubt that this court would intervene … The 2nd Amendment is a disfavored right in this court.”...MORE