It’s a “dark day” for gun control advocates in the United States and a « victoire » for the National Rifle Association (NRA). The Supreme Court invalidated, Thursday, June 23, a law of the State of New York on the carrying of weapons, devoting to the passage the right of the Americans to leave armed their residence.
This decision, taken by a majority of six (conservative) judges out of nine, comes as the country is still reeling from a series of deadly shootings, one of which, on May 24, left twenty-one dead in a Texas elementary school. «Le 2e and the 14e amendments to the Constitution protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside of his or her home”writes Judge Clarence Thomas for the majority.
The Supreme Court acts “without considering the potentially deadly consequences of his decision”regretted his progressive colleague Stephen Breyer in a separate argument, recalling that, “in 2020, 45,222 Americans were killed by firearms”.
On Twitter, the Democrat Kathy HochulGovernor of New York, deplored the Supreme Court’s decision.
Literal reading of 2e amendment
In concrete terms, this decision relates to a law which, since 1913, has limited the issue of permits to carry concealed weapons to people who have reason to believe that they may have to defend themselves, for example because of their profession or threats against them. . It had been challenged in court by two gun owners, who had been denied permits, and an NRA affiliate.
The NRA campaigns for a literal reading of 2e amendment to the United States Constitution. Ratified in 1791, it states that“A well-organized militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”.
In 1939, the Supreme Court ruled that this amendment protected the right to use weapons as part of a law enforcement force, such as the military or police, but was not an individual right to self defense.
She changed her position in a historic judgment in 2008 and established for the first time a right to possess a weapon in her home for self-defense. However, it has left it to cities and states to regulate wearing outside the home, so the rules vary widely from place to place. Thursday’s judgment puts an end to this latitude by setting in stone the right to carry a weapon.
As a first step, he should bring down laws similar to that of New York in force in other states, some of which are very populated, such as California or New Jersey. Other restrictions in force mainly in democratic states could be challenged in court under this new legal framework.
Nearly four hundred million weapons were in circulation among the civilian population in the United States in 2017, or one hundred and twenty weapons per hundred people, according to the Small Arms Survey project. Last year, more than 20,000 gun homicides were recorded on the Gun Violence Archive.