Washington Times: SCOTUS Second Amendment Ruling Puts All Types of Gun Control in the Crosshairs

The Washington Times suggests the Supreme Court of the United States’ (SCOTUS) June 23 pro-Second Amendment ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen puts all types of gun control in the crosshairs of gun rights groups.

On June 23 Breitbart News reported that SCOTUS issued a ruling in Bruen which struck down New York’s proper cause requirement for concealed carry permit issuance.

Within the next 24 to 36 hours California and New Jersey dropped similar concealed carry permit issuance requirements in their states, and on July 5 Maryland suspended its “good and substantial reason” clause for concealed carry permit issuance.

The Washington Times suggests the Bruen ruling means gun control of all types will now face challenges and in some cases, it is already being challenged.

The Times paraphrases Justice Clarence Thomas’s emphasis on the important of rulings like Bruen, McDonald v. Chicago (2010), and District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), saying, “The test courts must apply is whether a firearms restriction would have seemed reasonable to the founding generation that crafted and ratified the Second Amendment. If not, the law must give way to the Constitution.”

At this point the Second Amendment Foundation is seeking to challenge a federal ban on handgun purchases by people 18 to 20 years old, and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is pointing to the Bruen decision as it seeks to have New York’s “assault weapons” ban ruled unconstitutional.

FPC claims, “There is no constitutionally relevant difference between a semi-automatic handgun, shotgun, and rifle. While some exterior physical attributes may differ — wood vs. metal stocks and furniture, the number and/or location of grips, having a bare muzzle vs. having muzzle devices, different barrel lengths, etc. — they are, in all relevant respects, the same.”

Moreover, on July 1 Breitbart News pointed out that SCOTUS vacated and remanded a number of cases centered on an “assault weapons” ban in Maryland, a “high capacity” magazine ban in California, and carry restrictions in Hawaii.

A challenge to New Jersey’s “high capacity” ban was also among the cases vacated and remanded.

Bloomberg Law noted that in remanding the cases Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “While that judicial deference to legislative interest balancing is understandable—and, elsewhere, appropriate—it is not deference that the Constitution demands here.”

The cases were vacated and remanded in light of the Bruen ruling.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.