US SC upholds Americans' rights to carry firearms in public; Biden 'deeply disappointed'

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday said that he was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court's order to strike down a New York law restricting gun-carrying rights. In a statement, Biden condemned the SC ruling saying that it “contradicts” both sense and the constitution. According to the US President, the ruling should “deeply trouble” everyone in the country. He also called on the states to continue enacting and enforcing so-called “commonsense” gun laws.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen,” Biden said in a statement. “This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all,” he added.

The Supreme Court had ruled that Americans have the fundamental right to carry firearms in public and that limiting that right violates the 14th amendment of the Constitution. Notably, the New York law which was being questioned had required the individuals to have a “proper cause” if they wish to carry the firearms outside their home, that too, on a special need for self-defence beyond that of ordinary citizens. 

However, the US Supreme Court said, “New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defence needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defence”.

It is to mention that America’s apex court’s decision that struck down the New York amendment to the country’s gun laws has thrown the question of the legality of similar restrictions placed in half a dozen of states which provide licensing officials wide discretion. 

At a time when the US is reeling from a flurry of mass shootings, the SC ruling has jeopardised the restrictions in other states. The ruling broke along ideological lines, with the court’s six conservatives joining a majority opinion written by Justice Clarence Thomas. He argued that no other constitutional right requires the individual to demonstrate to the government why the right needs to be exercised. 

The New York State law prevented the law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, Thomas stated. However, the SC ruling has raised questions about how the United States would handle the decades-old issue of firearms restrictions, especially amid an increase in mass shootings. Ever since an 18-year-old killed 19 children and two teachers in Texas elementary school, the Biden administration has faced intensified calls for taking action. The shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde had already followed several other shootings that claimed several innocent lives. 

NRA celebrates SC ruling

While Biden condemned the SC ruling, the National Rifle Association (NRA) celebrated the decision. The plaintiffs were backed by the members of the gun lobby including Robert Nash and Brandon Koch. Both Nash and Koch had applied for a concealed carry permit but faced rejection even though they had licenses for recreational gun ownership. Just ahead of the Supreme Court's ruling, the United States Senate had laid out a plan to introduce legislation tightening access to firearms. 

Image: AP