Enlarge image
Protester in front of the Supreme Court
Photo: Jose Luis Magana / AP
The Supreme Court has begun investigating a lawsuit brought by two gun owners and the lobby group NRA over a law in New York State.
The authorities there had prohibited the plaintiffs from carrying a firearm in concealment for self-defense on the basis of a law that was more than a hundred years old.
For the first time in more than a decade, the US Supreme Court is dealing with an important gun law case.
The constitutional judges on Wednesday examined the extent to which states can regulate and prohibit the carrying of firearms.
Proponents of stricter gun control fear that the conservatively dominated Supreme Court could strengthen the rights of gun owners with a new landmark ruling.
The two men went to court after the ban in New York, but were unsuccessful.
They then called the Supreme Court.
Plaintiff's attorney Paul Clement said at the hearing on Wednesday that carrying firearms outside of one's own home was a "basic constitutional right."
The Supreme Court is now examining whether the decision of the New York authorities constitutes a violation of the second amendment to the constitution.
This so-called Second Amendment represents the basis for the right to own weapons in the USA. However, the exact interpretation is disputed.
In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in principle that the second amendment to the US Constitution enshrined an "individual" right to own weapons.
However, it remained unclear how much leeway there is for restrictions - also with regard to the question of bringing weapons outside of one's own home.
Conservative judges at the court have had a majority of six out of nine judges since the tenure of former President Donald Trump.
Three of the judges were appointed by Trump, who advocated gun owners.
At a rally in front of the courthouse, the vice-president of the anti-weapons group Everytown for Gun Safety, Angela Ferrell-Zabata, said the effects of a new landmark ruling could be "pretty bad."
A new ruling could "make it difficult for states and cities to address this crisis," she said, referring to the numerous victims of gun violence.
