By the Associated Press
The Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry guns in public, a major expansion of gun rights.
The court struck down a New York gun law in a ruling expected to directly impact half a dozen other populous states. The justices’ 6-3 decision is expected to allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities. It’s high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
Kansas Attorney General, Derek Schmidt, issued the following statement on the ruling.
“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court properly confirms that the Second Amendment’s plain text includes both the right to keep and the right to bear arms outside the home. The State of Kansas long has been a strong supporter of our citizens’ Second Amendment rights, and I was pleased to reflect that support in our successful advocacy in this case. The burdensome regime imposed by New York and a few other states, requiring citizens to demonstrate a ‘proper cause’ to exercise a constitutional right, was clearly unconstitutional and the Court was right to reject it.”
