Headlines from around the country following the Supreme Court’s decision on the Second Amendment in June, 2022.

New York Times, June 24, 2022

Tens of millions of Americans face an onslaught of litigation and legislative revision after a sweeping Supreme Court decision making it easier to carry a firearm in public upended gun control laws in at least a half-dozen states….

The Supreme Court ruling does not immediately nullify or revise these state laws; it just makes clear that they are unconstitutional, effectively forcing state officials to revamp them.

“These states have to come into compliance, or we will force them to,” said Stephen D. Stamboulieh, a lawyer for Gun Owners of America….

“We are going to see a lot of litigation,” said Adam Winkler, a University of California, Los Angeles, professor who specializes in gun policy. “This sets a new test for Second Amendment cases that calls into question most of the key elements of the gun safety agenda over the last decade.”

The result, according to lawyers on both sides of the gun debate, is that pending cases or even past rulings related to issues such as bans on certain assault rifles or high-capacity magazines on handguns or rifles could have different outcomes that are more friendly to gun rights.

Mr. Stamboulieh, the lawyer for Gun Owners of America, was already moving on Thursday to ensure that federal courts where he has pending cases take the Supreme Court ruling into consideration, including in a Hawaii case challenging a law that prohibits the carrying of handguns outside of the home.

“This is a lot broader than I thought the court was going to go,” he said. “There is so much work now to do.”

Read More at New York Times

Bloomberg Law, June 23, 2022

Gun Owners of America, a group that characterizes itself as a no compromise gun lobby, said it’s hoping to see the Supreme Court take up, and gun rights groups successfully challenge, state bans on assault weapons, age restrictions, and red flag laws. The group filed a friend-of-the court brief in the case supporting the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association.

“The Second Amendment protects all bearable arms from infringement,” Aidan Johnston, the federal affairs director of the group, said ahead of the court’s decision. “That means no regulation, that means no background checks, that means no government intervention whatsoever as far as the keeping or bearing of that arm is concerned.”

Read More at Bloomberg Law

Epoch Times, June 23, 2022

Gun Owners of America (GOA) hailed the decision, saying that New York’s laws “allowed government entities to review and routinely deny—at their discretion—applicants who applied for a concealed carry permit.”

Other than New York, several other states and Washington, D.C., had similar “may issue” laws, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

“This is a tremendous victory for all American gun owners who cherish their God-given right to protect themselves and their families,” said Erich Pratt, GOA’s vice president, in a statement. “At GOA, we proudly fight to overturn restrictive gun laws, and we are excited to see may-issue concealed carry laws permanently relegated to the history books. After all, allowing the government to decide which citizens are permitted to carry a firearm outside the home downgrades our God-given rights to mere privileges.”

Read More at Epoch Times

Cowboy State Daily, June 23, 2022

Mark Jones, Gun Owners of America’s national director of hunter’s programs, told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that his organization was thrilled about the ruling. However, he said it was sad that the justices even had to consider the case.

“We feel like they got it right,” Jones said. “To me, it was a question of whether or not that individual right extended to outside of the home. But it’s nice to see the Supreme Court do the right thing and uphold what most Americans would consider a common sense idea.”

Read More at Cowboy State Daily

NPR, July 6, 2022

Val Finnell, the Pennsylvania director for Gun Owners of America, believes this [Court decision] could open the door to ending concealed-carry licensing in this state.

“If this is indeed a constitutional right, as long as you do not intend to use your firearm to commit a crime or you’re not a prohibited person otherwise, you should be able to carry without seeking the government’s permission first,” Finnell said.

In fact, Finnell went a step further to say the ruling could be a move toward so-called constitutional carry, which would mean ending licensing requirements in the state.

“We should take the next step and say, you know, we should have constitutional carry in Pennsylvania and say, you know, you can carry your firearm outside of the home for self defense, whether it’s open or concealed,” said Finnell.

Read More of NPR’s story at WLVR