By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Another case that will help draw some lines regarding gun laws in the United States is due to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"In two previous cases, the person who was expressing their right to have a handgun without a license kept it in their home," said KU Law professor Lou Mulligan. "The court in both cases ruled that an individual has an individual right to have a handgun in their home without a special license, again, in the home. What we're seeing in this New York case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen case, is we're seeing, does this individual right to have a handgun without a license, does that extend to carrying a handgun out in public?"
New York law requires anyone who wants a license to carry a concealed handgun outside of the home to show “proper cause” for the license. Courts in New York have defined “proper cause” to require applicants to show a special need to defend themselves. The petitioners argue that you keep arms inside the home, but you bear arms outside the home and both are in the Second Amendment.
The three most recent appointees, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett are thought to be likely to interpret the text in the context of the time when it was written, rather than any modern interpretation of the words.
"On the left or the right, they are going to take their authentically held approach to interpreting the Constitution and they're going to bring it to this question," Mulligan said. "I don't know enough about the individual justices second amendment jurisprudence to give you a prediction."
There are numerous friend of the court briefs that have been filed in the case on both sides. The question isn't even necessarily what the decision will be as much as it is clarifying what the standard of scrutiny will be going forward. The justices traditionally take several months to decide a case once oral arguments are held, so it will likely be well into 2022 before the result is known.