US Supreme Court extends right to bear arms

Created: 06/23/2022, 18:06

In the US state of New York, strict guidelines on carrying guns have been overturned.

© John Roark/The Idaho Post-Register/AP/dpa

The state of New York actually has comparatively strict rules for carrying firearms in public.

But now the US Supreme Court is stepping in.

WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court has made a far-reaching decision to extend the right to carry firearms in public.

The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a New York state law that requires people to have valid reason to carry a handgun concealed.

The law is unconstitutional because it prevents "law-abiding citizens" from exercising their right to own and bear arms, the ruling said.

New York governor Kathy Hochul was disappointed.

"It is outrageous that at a time when gun violence is being debated nationwide, the Supreme Court is recklessly overturning a New York City law restricting the concealed carrying of guns," she lamented.

A new debate about gun violence has flared up in the United States after several massacres involving firearms.

At the end of May, an 18-year-old gunman shot dead 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas.

In mid-April, an 18-year-old opened fire in front of and inside a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people.

In response, a bipartisan group in the US Senate has agreed on a bill to improve gun violence protection.

There could be a vote on this later this week.

The draft law cleared a first procedural hurdle in the Senate in a vote on Tuesday evening (local time) with a non-partisan majority.

dpa