Among gun-rights organizations, the initial reaction to the much-anticipated Supreme Court opinion in NYSRPA v. Bruen was jubilant.
Most are still studying the opinion now, trying to determine the full extent of the win.
Here are the initial statements:
National Rifle Association
Fairfax, Va. – The National Rifle Association (NRA) welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. The Court affirmed that the right to bear arms does not stop at a person’s front door. This is the most significant Second Amendment ruling in more than a decade.
“This is another landmark win for constitutional freedom and the NRA,” says Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA. “The decision comes at an important time – as the Senate considers legislation that undermines Second Amendment freedom. This decision unequivocally validates the position of the NRA and should put lawmakers on notice: no law should be passed that impinges this individual freedom. It also confronts a troubling problem with the Senate legislation – underscoring that these freedoms should not be left to “unguided” discretion of state and federal officials. Second Amendment freedoms belong to the people.”
LaPierre adds, “Decades of Right-to-Carry laws all across America have proven that good men and women are not the problem. This ruling will bring life-saving justice to law-abiding Americans who have lived under unconstitutional restrictions all across our country, particularly in cities and states with revolving door criminal justice systems, no cash bail and increased opposition to law-enforcement.”
The NRA has been focused on promoting “shall-issue” protocols and eliminating “may-issue” laws since the late 1980s, and before today’s decision, only six states and the District of Columbia still operated under “may-issue” statutes. The Supreme Court’s ruling today marks the end of these subjective, unconstitutional permitting schemes.
“This is a monumental win for NRA members and for gun owners across the country. New York’s egregious law, which left its residents’ self-defense rights to the whim of a government bureaucrat, has been declared unconstitutional and must be changed. New Yorkers will soon be able to defend themselves outside of their homes without first having to prove that they have a sufficient “need” to exercise their fundamental rights,” said Jason Ouimet, executive director, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). “This is more than just a great day for New York because this ruling opens the door to rightly change the law in the seven remaining jurisdictions that still don’t recognize the right to carry a firearm for personal protection. The NRA has been at the forefront of this movement for over 30 years and was proud to bring this successful challenge to New York’s unconstitutional law.”
The case challenged New York’s requirement that applicants for concealed carry licenses demonstrate “proper cause” to carry a firearm outside of their home. New York routinely used this requirement to deny law-abiding citizens the ability to properly protect themselves. New York is one of six states and the District of Columbia that operate under such a “may issue” regime, and the NRA has long fought to abolish this practice in favor of “shall issue” or “constitutional carry” in which law-abiding citizens can exercise their right to carry as long as they meet certain objective criteria.
While the importance of this case cannot be understated and today NRA members enjoy a well-deserved victory, NRA remains committed to continuing this fight. Today’s ruling established the right to carry does not disappear at a person’s front door, but many unconstitutional gun control laws remain in America. The NRA will continue to fight these laws until every law-abiding American can exercise their right to defend themselves and their families with the firearm of their choosing.
Second Amendment Foundation:
BELLEVUE, WA – Today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down New York’s “good cause” requirement to obtain a carry permit is a long-overdue affirmation that the right to bear arms exists outside the home, and always has, the Second Amendment Foundation said.
“We are gratified that the high court has said there can be no bureaucratic prerequisite to exercising one’s constitutionally-protected right to bear arms,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “For too many generations, New York’s requirement has been the vehicle by which the constitutional rights of average law-abiding citizens have been deprived under color of law.
“Government bureaucrats have routinely been arbitrary and all-too-eager to prevent honest people from having the means to defend themselves against violent crime outside of their homes,” he continued. “This pattern of exclusivity—allowing only those with wealth and political connections to legally carry guns in public—has been an affront to the constitution for decades, and now officials in a handful of other states with similar arbitrary requirements are on notice they can no longer perpetuate what amounts to an outrage against the constitution. We’ll see how this ruling affects eight other states with similar laws including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.”
SAF congratulated the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association for its victory, and for its daunting determination to see this battle through to its conclusion. This case was only allowed to be brought because of SAF’s 2010 Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago which overturned that city’s handgun ban and incorporated the Second Amendment to be applied to the states through the 14th Amendment.
“We expect bureaucrats and even judges in various courts to resist today’s ruling,” Gottlieb acknowledged. “Too many of them have resisted and even ignored the Supreme Court Heller and McDonald rulings on Second Amendment rights in the past. We’re putting them on notice we’ll be watching for any such misconduct and we won’t be shy about taking legal action especially if New York City officials adopt near city wide ‘sensitive area’ restrictions making it impossible to carry in New York City.
“This is a clear victory for the Second Amendment and law-abiding gun owners,” he added, “and a staggering defeat for the gun prohibition movement and their billionaire financiers. Elitists who have their personal, armed private security have no business trying to undermine the rights of less-privileged citizens whose lives are just as important. Whenever gun prohibition forces lose, average people win, as they did today.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 750,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
National Shooting Sports Foundation:
NEWTOWN, Conn. — NSSF®, the firearm industry trade association, applauds the U.S. Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to strike down New York’s restrictive “may issue” concealed carry permitting scheme. This decision affirms that the Second Amendment is an individual right that may be exercised both in the home and in public.
“This is a tremendous victory for the rights of all law-abiding Americans to exercise the pre-existing and God-given right to keep and bear arms for self-defense,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “This establishes that ‘may issue’ permitting schemes that relegate the Second Amendment to a second-class right that can be meted out by government bureaucrats are unconstitutional. The firearm industry is tremendously grateful to the U.S. Supreme Court’s faithful application of Constitutional rights.
“Of equal importance is the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has set forth the correct test for evaluating whether a law infringes upon the Second Amendment. The court rejected the ‘means-ends’ (interest weighing analysis) test adopted by the lower courts since Heller and McDonald. This ‘means-ends’ test is based on retiring Justice Breyer’s dissent in Heller that was expressly rejected by the court in Heller itself. The court also made clear today that intermediate scrutiny is not appropriate and that the proper test is to look at the text, history and national tradition at the time of the founding as to whether a restriction violates the Second Amendment.
“NSSF in amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court has urged the court to provide clear guidance to the lower courts as to proper test. We are very pleased the court has put an end to the improper interest balance test in which the government restriction is nearly always upheld. Now, finally, the Second Amendment will not be treated like a second-class right,” said Keane.
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.
Gun Owners of America:
Washington, D.C. – Today, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) join their members and Second Amendment advocates across the nation in celebration of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the restrictive and unconstitutional “may-issue” laws that were on the books in nine anti-gun states.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen overturned the onerous statutes that allowed government entities to review and routinely deny — at their discretion — applicants who applied for a concealed carry permit. New York’s law was specifically challenged in the case, but the Supreme Court’s ruling will apply to the other eight states that still maintain “may-issue” laws. In addition to New York, the states include: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. The Court has held that “New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.”
In his opinion for the 6-3 majority, Justice Thomas wrote in part:
“We too agree, and now hold, consistent with Heller and McDonald, that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
The court also sided with Gun Owners of America in rejecting the application of a two-part test involving strict or intermediate scrutiny. The Supreme Court adopted the test GOA advocated for, using a text and history approach and barring judges from infringing on the Second Amendment with their own personal opinions and lack of expertise.
Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:
“This is a tremendous victory for all American gun owners who cherish their God-given right to protect themselves and their families. At GOA, we proudly fight to overturn restrictive gun laws, and we are excited to see may-issue concealed carry laws permanently relegated to the history books. After all, allowing the government to decide which citizens are permitted to carry a firearm outside the home downgrades our God-given rights to mere privileges. This is why the Second Amendment says our right to keep and bear firearms ‘shall not be infringed’!”
Background:
On April 26, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the appeal of two New York residents who claim that the State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment. GOA was one of several groups last summer to file amicus curiae briefs in support of NYSRPA’s claim. The case was argued before the court on November 3, 2021.
Florida Carry, Inc.
“Today’s decision vindicates many of the arguments that Florida Carry has made in the courts over the years. We will be submitting supplements to existing cases, and soon filing new cases, to better secure the Right to Bear Arms for every Floridian consistent with today’s decision,” said Florida Carry founder and executive director Sean Caranna.
