Up until now, gun laws have been strictly regulated in the state of New York. The country’s Supreme Court found it too strict. For President Biden, the decision defies common sense.
Amid the debate over gun violence in the US, the country’s Supreme Court has expanded the right to carry guns in public.
The Supreme Court in Washington on Thursday overturned a more than 100-year-old New York state law that requires you to have valid reason to obtain a license to carry a handgun concealed outside the home.
After two massacres involving firearms in the past few weeks, a new dispute over stricter regulations has flared up in the USA. A bipartisan group in the US Senate has now agreed on a draft law for better protection. The disappointment for many is all the greater.
New York law required those wishing to carry a concealed weapon in self-defense to demonstrate special necessity. Two men complained about it. Similar laws exist in states like California, New Jersey or Massachusetts. In many other parts of the USA, on the other hand, there are hardly any restrictions.
With three votes against
“We are not aware of any other constitutional right that individuals may only exercise if they can demonstrate a special need to the authorities,” the verdict said. The decision of the highest US court was six to three – the three judges, who are considered liberal, did not agree.
Judge Stephen Breyer wrote in a dissenting opinion of “potentially fatal consequences” of the decision. President Joe Biden criticized that it contradicted both “common sense and the Constitution”. More and not less must be done to protect the people in the country. “There are lives at stake.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the decision “outrageous”. Attorney General Letitia James said: “For more than a century, this law has protected New Yorkers from harm by ensuring that there are sound and appropriate gun regulations in public places.”
Successful gun lobby
In the United States, fatal incidents involving firearms are a sad part of everyday life. Pistols and rifles are extremely easy to purchase. According to the CDC, about 20,000 people were shot dead in the United States in 2020 – more than 50 a day. An overpowering gun lobby is campaigning for looser regulations – with success.
According to investigators, horror triggered a racist act by an 18-year-old in the US city of Buffalo in May. He killed ten people in and in front of a supermarket. The shock was still deep when a week later, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. He killed 19 children and two teachers.
Attempts to tighten gun laws regularly fail in Congress because of Republicans. This could change for the first time in decades after the terrible acts: Republicans and Democrats agreed in the Senate on a bill for better protection against firearm violence. This took a first hurdle in the vote on Tuesday evening with a non-partisan majority and should now be decided quickly. Critics, meanwhile, spoke of a minimal compromise that would tighten the lax gun laws only very slightly.
Source: Stern
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