{"id":936468,"date":"2021-10-29T08:58:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T12:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=936468"},"modified":"2021-10-29T08:58:54","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T12:58:54","slug":"mark-w-smith-how-new-york-is-trying-to-gut-the-second-amendment-at-the-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mark-w-smith-how-new-york-is-trying-to-gut-the-second-amendment-at-the-supreme-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark W. Smith: How New York is Trying to Gut the Second Amendment at the Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmark-w-smith-how-new-york-is-trying-to-gut-the-second-amendment-at-the-supreme-court%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=936468&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/10\/28\/mark-w-smith-most-important-second-amendment-case-in-over-a-decade-is-on-deck\/\">Previously<\/a>, I explained how the Supreme Court is about to hear the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade.&nbsp;<em><i>New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association v. Bruen<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;is a blockbuster case to which all freedom-loving Americans should pay attention.<\/p>\n<p>Today I\u2019ll break down why this should be a slam-dunk victory for your constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But&nbsp;<em><i>should<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;does not necessarily mean<em><i>&nbsp;will<\/i><\/em>, so I\u2019ll also reveal how New York\u2019s lawyers are trying to steal a win.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The question in&nbsp;<em><i>Bruen<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;is whether states like New York can put limits on or essentially eliminate your right to carry a gun for self-defense outside your home. Why is this issue so important? Because the text of the Second Amendment specifically provides for the right \u201cto keep&nbsp;<em><i>and bear&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>arms.\u201d That phrase refers to&nbsp;two related but distinct concepts. \u201cTo keep\u201d means you can own a gun. \u201cTo bear\u201d means you can carry it outside your home.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no accident that I lead with the text of the Constitution. The Supreme Court closely analyzed the text of the Second Amendment when it affirmed the individual right to keep and bear firearms. That was in the 2008 landmark ruling,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/07pdf\/07-290.pdf\"><em><i>District of Columbia v. Heller<\/i><\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em><i>Heller&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>ruling is crucial not just for&nbsp;<em><i>what<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;it decided. It also established the standard for&nbsp;<em><i>how<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;courts should interpret and apply the Second Amendment. That standard has become known as \u201ctext, history, and tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_18513890\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"36\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1231838824.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-18513890\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1231838824-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Demonstrators hold signs as they gather for a Second Amendment rally at the Washington State Capitol on March 20, 2021 in Olympia, Washington. The event was billed as a \u201cRally for 2A &amp; Flag Wave.\u201d&nbsp; (Photo by David Ryder\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The&nbsp;<em><i>Heller&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>decision relied on in-depth historical analysis to show what the Second Amendment meant when it was adopted. In the&nbsp;<em><i>Bruen<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;case, history supports the right to carry outside your home. At the time of the American Founding and for long after, there were&nbsp;<em><i>zero&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>laws on the books requiring law-abiding citizens to prove to government officials that they had a good reason for carrying firearms in public.<\/p>\n<p>During the Founding period, law-abiding citizens carried arms&nbsp;<em><i>all the time<\/i><\/em>. Just look at our Founding Fathers. George Washington was an avid hunter. John Adams carried a gun to school so he could go hunting as soon as the school day ended. Thomas Jefferson traveled with pistols for his own protection and advised his nephew to let his gun \u201cbe the constant companion\u201d of his walks. James Madison was a skilled marksman. The list goes on and on. In fact, the first&nbsp;<em><i>eight<\/i><\/em>&nbsp;presidents of the United States routinely carried guns, as I explain in this video&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Q_1oviipQVA\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>St. George Tucker, one of the leading legal thinkers of the Founding generation, was not exaggerating when he wrote, \u201cIn many parts of the United States, a man no more thinks, of going out of his house on any occasion, without his rifle or musket in his hand, than an European fine gentleman without a sword by his side.\u201d&nbsp; For a comprehensive scholarly analysis of the Second Amendment\u2019s right to carry firearms, I strongly recommend attorney Stephen Halbrook\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/stephenhalbrook.com\/books\/right-to-bear-arms\/\">book<\/a>&nbsp;<em><i>The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Because history was so central to the&nbsp;<em><i>Heller&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>decision, New York is desperate to find some historical support for its restrictions. But its historical counter-arguments are incredibly weak, as I will discuss in my next article.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"7.44\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Second Amendment victory! The Illinois Supreme Court ruled 6-0 Thursday that Cook County&#8217;s tax on guns and ammunition violates the Second Amendment. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EX8ijAtQRk\">https:\/\/t.co\/EX8ijAtQRk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1451663742752657423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 22, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p><em><i>Tradition&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>sometimes refers to laws passed after the Second Amendment was ratified. These also support robust public-carry rights. Restrictions like New York\u2019s on the right to carry outside the home didn\u2019t exist for well over a century after the founding of the United States. The New York law being considered in&nbsp;<em><i>Bruen&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>was the first may issue law\u2014known as the Sullivan Law; it wasn\u2019t passed until the early twentieth century. Even today, such restrictive laws exist in only a handful of the bluest of blue states. They are outliers and an affront to our nation\u2019s founding ideals.<\/p>\n<p>In short, if the Supreme Court applies&nbsp;<em><i>Heller<\/i><\/em>\u2019s \u201ctext, history, and tradition\u201d standard, there\u2019s no question that the Second Amendment protects more than a homebound right. Even former Judge Richard Posner, who publicly criticized the&nbsp;<em><i>Heller&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>decision, wrote an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/us-7th-circuit\/1617912.html\">opinion<\/a>&nbsp;for the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that said, \u201cOne doesn\u2019t have to be a historian to realize that a right to keep and bear arms for personal self-defense in the eighteenth century could not rationally have been limited to the home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, that should be the end of the case, right?<\/p>\n<p>Well, yes. But again,&nbsp;<em><i>should&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>is not the same as&nbsp;<em><i>will<\/i><\/em>. And the anti-gun side is pressing the Supreme Court to abandon&nbsp;<em><i>Heller\u2019s&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>text, history and tradition standard, and instead apply other standards of review.<\/p>\n<p>Most notably, New York will push what\u2019s known in constitutional law as the \u201ctiers of scrutiny.\u201d That fancy phrase basically gives courts an excuse to make decisions that aren\u2019t based on the Constitution\u2019s text or original meaning. Under tiers of scrutiny, the government can violate your rights as long as it can convince a court that its interests in doing so are important enough. For a deeper dive on the dangers of \u201ctiers of scrutiny\u201d, see my video&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6hJtIvgvXvs\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18513930\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"38\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1228563368.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-18513930\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/GettyImages-1228563368-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Supporters of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution take part in their annual march, for the right to bear arms, at the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan on September 17, 2020. (JEFF KOWALSKY\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In Second Amendment cases, lower courts have made the tiers of scrutiny standards malleable enough to bless almost any gun-control law imaginable. In case after case after&nbsp;<em><i>Heller<\/i><\/em>, lower courts have applied a three-step formula: (1) effectively flipping the burden of proof onto gunowners; (2) recognize an abstract interest in \u201cpublic safety\u201d as being a crucial one; and (3) deferring to the government\u2019s assertion that the law in question will promote public safety. Voila, your rights gone in three simple steps.<\/p>\n<p>Dry terms like \u201ctiers of scrutiny\u201d and \u201ctext, history, and tradition\u201d can obscure how much is at stake in the&nbsp;<em><i>Bruen&nbsp;<\/i><\/em>case. If the Supreme Court abandons the clear standards set in&nbsp;<em><i>Heller<\/i><\/em>, that will deal a huge blow to your Second Amendment rights. Two prominent attorneys&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalaffairs.com\/publications\/detail\/against-the-tiers-of-constitutional-scrutiny\">summed up<\/a>&nbsp;how pernicious tiers of scrutiny are: \u201cNot only do they have no place in Second Amendment jurisprudence; they have no place in American constitutional law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Next, I\u2019ll dig into New York\u2019s feeble historical arguments.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>* Attorney Mark W. Smith is a Presidential Scholar and Senior Fellow in Law and Public Policy at The King\u2019s College, a&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;bestselling author, and the Host and Producer of&nbsp;The Four Boxes Diner&nbsp;on YouTube, a channel providing in-depth analysis on Second Amendment scholarship, legal matters, news and issues.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Previously, I explained how the Supreme Court is about to hear the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade.\u00a0New York State Rifle &#038; Pistol Association v. Bruen\u00a0is a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}