By Dave Workman of Guns Magazine
By tradition, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) holds its most controversial rulings until the final days of the session, which wraps up later this month, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen will not be the last battle.
Certainly, an affirmative ruling — meaning a decision by the court to nullify the long-standing “good cause” requirement for carry permits in New York State — would be shattering not only for anti-gun-rights Empire State bureaucrats, but for similarly empowered people in states with similar requirements. We’re talking about New Jersey, Maryland, California, Hawaii, Delaware (Joe Biden’s home state), Connecticut and Massachusetts. A favorable outcome would strengthen the Second Amendment, but it won’t be the last word.
If the high court strikes down the New York requirement, as many anticipate at this writing, the other states will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into compliance. Demagoguery dies hard and bureaucrats hate to give up any power they have over the public, especially involving the exercise of the right to bear arms, as well as keep them.
What’s at stake here is not just the rights of people involved in the lawsuit, but the generations of citizens whose rights have been violated by these laws and who never had the chance for relief. Nobody has ever talked about this because it’s an inconvenient truth. If the law is found unconstitutional, it has always been so. We can’t retroactively hold all of those people accountable who enforced the laws in decades past but we can put candidates and incumbents on the spot to make sure we vote against anybody who thinks the right needs to be restricted.
Experience following the high court ruling against Chicago’s handgun ban in June 2010 suggests New York officials will scramble to figure out just how far they can push the envelope with revised restrictions, and still comply.
An affirmative Second Amendment ruling — if that’s what the court delivers — will come right in the middle of campaign season leading up to the 2022 midterm elections. You’ve got only a few months to mobilize, get behind candidates who will flip power in Congress and in state legislatures around the country. This year provides an opportunity to stage a peaceful revolution by putting anti-gun politicians out of work, allowing pro-rights officials to right the wrongs of the past 18 months and maybe decades in those states with restrictive gun laws.