The U.S. Supreme Court had the perfect case to clarify, once and for all, that the word “bear” in the Second Amendment actually means something – like every other word in the Bill of Rights. The Court failed us all.
New York City had the most restrictive handgun law in the country. If you owned a handgun in your home, you had to have a “premise license.” You could only transport the gun to one of seven shooting ranges in the City.
You could not stop for any reason along the way. If you had a second residence or apartment, no luck. You couldn’t take the gun there under any circumstances.
The law was challenged by gun owners and the City won with a grin in the District Court and Court of Appeals. Then, the Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal and the gun ban zealots’ knees buckled.
They knew the Court might finally address the fact that “bear” in the Second Amendment means what it says – that the right to arms is not the lone constitutional right to be restricted to one’s home.
The City quickly relaxed its law and hoped the Court would determine that there is no longer a case to hear – that it was moot. The New York state legislature even got involved by making the challenged law illegal in the future. The antis were doing all they could to avoid a Court decision. Their plan worked. Today, the Court ruled the case moot.
Freedom super star Justice Samuel Alito dissented, saying that the New York City law was a clear violation of the Second Amendment and needed to be addressed regardless of the games being played by city officials. Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority, unfortunately, but did say that he looked forward to finally addressing the Second Amendment holistically in another case.
