Supreme Court to Hear Case on Right to Carry Concealed Guns for Self-Defense

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a New York state law that limits carrying concealed firearms outside the home, the first major Second Amendment case it has heard since 2010 and one that could lead to a loosening of gun laws nationwide.

The court first recognized a right to keep handguns in the home in a 2008 case and extended that ruling nationwide in 2010. Since then the court has declined to consider how far Second Amendment rights extend outside the home, even as most state and local gun regulations were upheld by lower courts.

The case accepted Monday will put the spotlight on the three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump, all of whom received vigorous backing from gun organizations such as the National Rifle Association. As appeals-court judges, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett adopted Second Amendment approaches that generally point to looser constitutional limits on weapons possession.

Last year, Justice Neil Gorsuch joined two long-serving justices, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, in dissenting from dismissal of a different gun case after New York City and state officials repealed challenged regulations that restricted gun owners from taking their weapons outside city limits.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined the majorities that extended gun rights in 2008 and 2010 but has written little on the Second Amendment himself.

New York law provides for different categories of gun licenses, including premises licenses that allow weapons to be held at a specific location. To carry a concealed weapon elsewhere, an applicant must demonstrate “proper cause,” which gun advocates say the state defines too restrictively. New York doesn’t allow open carrying of weapons.