The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge brought forward by two men, Robert Nash and Brendan Koch who were denied permits to carry handguns for self-defense.
Both men said they have completed their courses on gun safety but were turned down when they applied for permits.
Their appeals were rejected by lower Courts and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in its October term.
Lower courts rejected the argument made by plaintiffs that the restrictions violated the US Constitution’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
New York bans carrying hand gun openly.
The state law says: ”Anyone seeking a license to carry a concealed weapon must demonstrate a special need for self protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession.”
Paul Clement, one of the lawyers representing the applicants reacts thus: The law “makes it virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen to get the necessary license.”
Clement, however, argues that the New York law is so restrictive that it cannot be reconciled with the Supreme Court’s “affirmation of the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.”
The second Amendment to United States rights to bear a gun reads: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
However, Federal courts have split on the meaning of the Second Amendment’s declaration of a right to keep “and bear” arms. For the National Rifle Association (NRA) and many gun owners, who are backing the applicants it guarantees the rights of citizens to carry weapons.
In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment ensured the right to have a gun at home but left it there. Now it is up to cities and states to set their own rules on carrying firearms outside the home.
This comes amid a gun control push by President Joe Biden in the wake of several killings.