On any list of the most hot-button topics in American life these days, the question of gun control will be toward the top. One of the core arguments that the partisans on both sides of the issue have is whether more legal guns make things safer or more dangerous. It’s possible New Yorkers are about to find out.
That’s because the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that New York State’s Sullivan Law about concealed-carry permits—put in place in 1911—violated the Second Amendment of the Constitution and struck it down. That should allow more people to carry guns in New York State regularly.
The lawsuit that eventually reached the Supreme Court was brought by a pair of men from upstate New York, along with the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association. The two men—Robert Nash and Brandon Koch—had applied for permits to carry concealed weapons but had been turned down. Nash had applied for the permit after a string of robberies occurred in his neighborhood, but he was still turned down.
But what does the Supreme Court ruling permit? Will New Yorkers start seeing people carrying guns on the subway, in the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, in playgrounds and parks?
Also, what other laws might this ruling affect? Over the weekend, Congress passed a bipartisan gun safety bill, which was signed into law by President Biden. It enhanced background checks, stopped all domestic abusers from getting guns, created monetary incentives for states to put in place red-flag laws, and increased funding for school safety and mental health treatment. Could the Supreme Court ruling affect provisions of that new bill?
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