Supreme Court rules NY concealed carry law violates 2nd Amendment

In its "biggest gun rights case in over a decade," the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a New York state law restricting the concealed carry of a firearm does, in fact, violate the Second Amendment.

A 6-3 decision along party lines determined that the Constitution safeguards the right to carry a gun outside the home. The high-profile case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Asso­ci­ation Inc. v. Bruen, centered around a New York law under which applicants were ordered to prove "some special need — a requirement that went beyond a general desire for self-protection" — to receive a permit to carry a concealed weapon in public, writes NBC News. State gun owners then sued over the law, arguing it made it almost impossible for an ordinary citizen to get a concealed carry license, and turned what was supposed to be a constitutional right into a limited privilege. The court ruled Thursday in favor of the gun owners, thus bringing about the "widest expansion of gun rights in a decade," CNN notes.

"Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the state's licensing regime violates the Constitution," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority.

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The ruling now throws into question "similar laws in at least eight other states and [Washington, D.C.]," The Wall Street Journal reports. It also arrives after a number of high-profile mass shootings have rattled the country, leading to increased calls for gun reform nationwide. In response, Congress is currently working to pass a bipartisan gun control package.