The Supreme Court takes a critical look at New York gun control

 Streiff:

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Kavanaugh hit home with his concern that the exercise of the Second Amendment, under New York’s system, will be left to the whim of the person reviewing a permit application.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh acknowledged that there is a history of states issuing permits for the open carrying of guns. But “how do we think about,” Kavanaugh asked U.S. Deputy Solicitor General Brian H. Fletcher, “a separate tradition, that the chief justice and others have referred to in our constitutional law of concern, about too much discretion in exercise of authority over constitutional rights and that too much discretion can lead to all sorts of problems, such as our history shows.”

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“It seems like before you impose more restrictions on individual citizens and infringe our constitutional rights based on this theory, you should have to show” that those other states have “a lot more accidents, crime, and I don’t see any real evidence of that,” Kavanaugh said.

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 For once, Chief Justice Roberts seems to be on our side.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. pointed out that constitutional rights do not have to be justified, such as the Second Amendment right to bear arms. “The Constitution gives you that right,” Roberts said. “And if someone’s going to take it away from you, they have to justify it.”

Brian H. Fletcher, the principal deputy solicitor general arguing in support of the New York law, said: “The whole question is whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms confers that right to have a pistol with you for self-defense. Even absent a showing of demonstrating need.”

Roberts responded: “I’m not sure that’s right. I mean, regardless of what the right is, it would be surprising to have it depend upon a permit system. You can say that the right is limited in the particular way, just as First Amendment rights are limited. But the idea that you need a license to exercise the right, I think, is unusual in the context of the Bill of Rights.”

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Alito was also critical of the New York law. I suspect the court will overturn the New York restrictions.