SCOTUS decision in New York concealed carry law is a nightmare for gun control
SlateThe Supreme Court commenced a revolution in Second Amendment law on Thursday, striking down New York’s strict limits on concealed carry in a maximalist opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas that renders most of the nation’s gun control laws presumptively unconstitutional. The government may only save it from invalidation if it can prove that the regulation “is consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” In other words, courts may no longer rely on empirical evidence in upholding gun control laws. He clarified that states can still require licenses for concealed carry permits that may include “a background check, a mental health records check, and training in firearms handling.” And he added that a “variety” of gun regulations remain permissible, though cited only exceedingly modest measures such as “laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.” It is difficult to reconcile Kavanaugh’s concurrence with substantial portions of Thomas’ opinion and thus hard to know how seriously to take it. As Justice Stephen Breyer noted in dissent, it is no longer permissible for judges “to consider the serious dangers and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate firearms.” On Thursday, Thomas and his fellow conservatives threw the United States into a frightening experiment: What happens when the people are no longer allowed to protect themselves from mass slaughter through their elected representatives and are left at the mercy of unelected judges who do not care if they are shot to death?