(Alexandria, VA)—The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) has filed an amicus brief supporting the petitioners in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York in the Supreme Court of the United States. ACRU supports the Second Amendment rights of New York City residents as the Supreme Court decides whether the New York City law criminalizing transport of registered guns outside the home is unconstitutional.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, represented by former Solicitor General Paul Clement, seeks to overturn a decision to uphold the New York City law by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
New York City issues permits allowing authorized persons to register guns to keep at home for self-protection, but the city’s law makes it a crime to remove their registered firearms from that home for any reason except to transport them to one of seven city-approved firing ranges.
The Supreme Court held in two landmark decisions in 2008 and 2010 that the Second Amendment is a fundamental right held by individual American citizens. But both of those cases involved citizens who wanted a handgun in their house for home protection, leaving other questions for future cases. The city law does not allow taking a gun outside the home for any reason, even if it is unloaded in a car truck, and even if the owner merely wants to take the gun to another home. The Supreme Court will now decide whether the Second Amendment extends outside the home, and whether the Big Apple’s law must be struck down as unconstitutional.
READ THE AMICUS BRIEF HERE (PDF – 251k).