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Voting & The 2nd Amendment
I read that the Supreme Court is going to take up a new Second Amendment case to determine whether New York has the ability to deny someone the right to a concealed carry permit if the person passes a background check.
New York is a “may issue” state as opposed to Florida which is a “must issue” state if you meet the criteria. Having had a concealed carry permit in New York City decades ago, it is preposterous what an applicant needs to go through to be approved. Whether you receive a permit is much like a game of roulette with the examining authority having all the power to deny the permit and the applicant little to do if denied.
In Heller, the Court already ruled that the Second Amendment is interpreted to mean there is an individual right to own firearms, and the McDonald decision two years later said the right applied to states and municipalities. In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that there is no requirement to demonstrate a “good reason” to obtain a concealed carry permit.
The Supreme Court will probably rule that the “may issue” standard is too subjective and ignores Second Amendment rights. That may force the states that use that standard to have objective criteria in determining when to issue a permit. The criteria may differ from state to state if a person’s fundamental Second Amendment rights are not…