Supreme Court Will Consider Right to Carry Handgun in Public

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a major new Second Amendment dispute, agreeing to use a New York case to decide whether the government must let people carry a handgun in public for self-defense.

With the nation reeling from series of mass shootings, the justices said they will hear an appeal by a National Rifle Association affiliate and two people who say the state is violating their constitutional rights by issuing concealed-carry licenses only to those who can show a special need for protection.

The high court hasn’t issued a major gun-rights decision in more than a decade. Gun-rights advocates have been looking to the three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump to show a more assertive stance toward the Second Amendment.

The case, which the court will consider in the nine-month term that starts in October, will put the justices in the middle of one of the country’s most fractious debates. It will pit people who see public gun possession as a matter of self-defense and individual freedom against others who say the result will be more crime and reduced public safety.

New York is one of eight states -- along with California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware and Hawaii -- that the National Rifle Association says prevent most people from getting a carry license. Illinois and the District of Columbia also had sharp restrictions before their laws were invalidated in court.

The Supreme Court in June refused to take up challenges to the New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland laws. That was before Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death and Trump’s successful nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett strengthened the court’s conservative majority. Four justices must agree for the court to take up a case.

The restrictions have created a split among federal appeals courts, a dynamic that often prompts the Supreme Court to intervene. The high court has never said whether the Second Amendment applies outside the home.

“This sets the stage for the Supreme Court to affirm what most states already hold as true, that there is an individual right to self-defense outside of the home,” the National Rifle Association said in an emailed statement. “It’s hard to overstate how important this case is.”

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.

To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.

Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake

Connect with us on…

Breaking News on YouTube