The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Thursday that its citizens have a fundamental right to carry firearms in public, in a landmark decision that will prevent states from restricting people from doing so with their own regulations.
(Also read: They agree on a US bill to restrict access to firearms)
The ruling, which comes as the country grapples with a staggering rise in gun crime, especially school shootings, overturns a New York State law that required special permission to carry a firearm.
“The Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home,” said Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote the majority opinion.
“New York’s good 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,” it added.
Good and bad news
The powerful lobby for firearms in the United States, the NRA, celebrated the Court’s ruling. “The NRA achieves a victory!” exclaimed the National Rifle Association (NRA) on its Twitter account, to highlight that the highest US court had declared “restrictions” on carrying “unconstitutional”.
(You may be interested in: Two dead and one injured in church shooting in the United States)
Meanwhile, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul called the decision a “black day”because it prevents each state from legislating in this regard.
“Terrible, absolutely terrible,” he reacted before adding that it is a “deprivation of our right to impose reasonable restrictions”, which for the Democratic governor is a “black day”. “We will not back down, we will defend ourselves,” she promised.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from AFP
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