We will hear argument this morning in case 2843 New York State Rifle and Pistol Association versus Bruin.

Hey everyone, this is Leon from Fiasco and Prologg Projects.

On this week's episode of 5-4, Peter, Rianne and Michael are talking about New York State Rifle and Pistol Association V Bruin.

The case, which was decided this summer, is about a New York State law that set limits on who is allowed to walk around secretly carrying a handgun.

The court struck down the New York law dating back more than 100 years that requires gun owners to have a special need or cause in order to get the license to conceal carry a handgun.

The majority claimed that New York State's licensing requirements were unconstitutional because, according to Clarence Thomas' peculiar view of history,

they did not mesh with America's traditional regulation of firearms. This is 5-4, a podcast about how much the Supreme Court sucks.

Welcome to 5-4, where we dissect and analyze the Supreme Court cases that have contaminated our nation like microplastics have contaminated our bloodstreams.

I am Peter, I'm here with Rianne and Michael.

Hey everybody.

Today's case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association V Bruin, case from the end of this past term about gun rights, which was really the talk of the town until they overturned the right to an abortion a couple days later.

That's the Supreme Court news cycle these days, I suppose.

Yeah, every 48 hours there's something new to light my hair on fire.

So New York had a gun licensure regime where any person who wants to possess a firearm can do so only if they show that they have a special need to own one.

The system of course was very offensive to gun rights advocates, you know, how dare New York make me explain to them why I need a gun when that is my constitutional right.

And so you get this lawsuit and the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas strikes the law down saying that it violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

So we take it away.

Yeah, you know, I think since history is so important in this fucking majority opinion, I think we should start with a little bit of history at least some history that is specific to New York and this licensing regime.

So New York State has had a licensing regime for gun ownership for a long time since 1911 when the state enacted what was called the Sullivan Law and that law prohibited public carrying of handguns without a license.

After that a couple years later, the state established standards for the issuance of a license and that licensing structure has remained intact basically since then.

So in more contemporary times like at the time this lawsuit was filed and was making its way up to the Supreme Court, you know, 2019, 2020, 2021, the law in New York was that open carrying a gun is prohibited.

So a concealed carry license is the only way to legally carry a handgun in public. Now the law required some basic stuff that you see with a lot of licensing regimes, you know, you had to be 21 or older to own a gun, you can't have a felony conviction on your record, things like that.

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