(ACRU) supports the Second Amendment rights of New York City residents as the Supreme Court decides whether the New York City law criminalizing transport of registered guns outside the home is unconstitutional.
The (ACRU) has filed an amicus brief supporting the petitioners in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York in the Supreme Court of the United States. The Constitution clearly outlines the right to “keep and bear” arms. The right to bear arms is at stake in the case.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association seeks to overturn a decision to uphold the New York City law by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. This will be the first time in almost ten years that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a related case.
New York City issued permits allowing authorized persons to register guns to keep at home for self-protection, but the city’s law made it a crime to remove their registered firearms from that home for any reason except to transport them to one of seven city-approved firing ranges. Since the original case, NYC made some changes to the law that would enable them to urge the Court to dismiss it as moot; however, the Court is proceeding with the oral argument.
The federal government has also filed a brief maintaining that the case should proceed despite changes to the law because the ban violated the right to keep and bear arms.
The Supreme Court held in two landmark decisions in 2008 and 2010 that the Second Amendment is a fundamental right held by individual American citizens. But both of those cases involved citizens who wanted a handgun in their house for home protection, leaving other questions for future cases. The city law did not allow taking a gun outside the home for any reason, even if it was unloaded in a car truck, and even if the owner merely wanted to take the gun to another home.
This Supreme Court decision may weigh in on the larger question of whether the Second Amendment extends outside the home generally, and not just whether the Big Apple’s law must be struck down as unconstitutional. To that end, it is a very important case affecting all Americans.
Read the amicus brief here.
The (ACRU) is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all Americans by publicly advancing a constitutional understanding of our essential rights and freedoms. The ACRU monitors and counters organizations that threaten our constitutional rights and promotes election integrity, compliance with federal election laws, government transparency and constitutional government.
