Blue States Scramble to Rewrite Gun Laws after Historic Supreme Court Ruling
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Several Democrat-led state legislatures are scrambling to rewrite gun laws to avoid court challenges after the Supreme Court ruled a New York regulation limiting concealed-carry licenses unconstitutional.
In a 6–3 decision released on Thursday, the Court struck down New York’s “proper-cause” requirement for a concealed-carry license, which mandated that residents show an exceptional need for such a license.
California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island all have similar laws on the books that may face challenges as to their constitutionality, multiple outlets noted following the Court ruling.
“These states have to come into compliance, or we will force them to,” Gun Owners of America lawyer Stephen D. Stamboulieh told the New York Times on Friday.
California governor Gavin Newsom blasted the Court’s ruling on Thursday, while saying that his state is “ready” with new gun legislation to comply with the ruling.
“Our state is ready with a bill that will be heard next week to update and strengthen our public-carry law and make it consistent with the Supreme Court ruling,” Newsom said in a statement, calling the decision “radical.”
The governor added, “Next week, I will have 16 new gun safety bills on my desk, including a bill that will allow individuals to sue gun makers and distributors for violating certain gun laws. I look forward to signing all of those bills.”
In response to the ruling, New York City officials said they were considering ways to expand the number of “sensitive places” where firearms can be restricted in public. City Council speaker Adrienne Adams, a Democrat from Queens, said she would call for the state legislature to pass a law declaring any place with over 10,000 people per square mile a “sensitive place,” effectively outlawing concealed carry throughout New York City.
This despite the fact that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explicitly dismissed in his majority opinion New York’s argument that “the entire island of Manhattan” could qualify as a sensitive location.
Alternatively, during a Thursday press conference New York City mayor Eric Adams raised the possibility of designating as a “sensitive location” any area within 1,000 feet of a bar, theater, library, childcare center, school, mass transit station, effectively prohibiting concealed-carry throughout most of the city.
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy also said his state was working on ways to update its gun laws in light of the ruling.
“Let there be no mistake – this dangerous decision will make America a less safe country,” Murphy said in a statement on Twitter. “But let me be equally clear that, here in New Jersey, we will do everything in our power to protect our residents….We are carefully reviewing the Court’s language and will work to ensure that our gun safety laws are as strong as possible while remaining consistent with this tragic ruling.”
