The Supreme Court recently issued a ruling striking down a New York law that required citizens to demonstrate need in order to acquire a concealed carry license. States like California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island with similar laws are expected to be challenged in the near future.
However, a number of red states like Montana see this as a major victory for Second Amendment advocates. Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told KGVO radio it indeed is a huge victory.
“This is monumental,” he told the station. “I mean, this literally is the first time that the Supreme Court has flat out said the Second Amendment gives you the right to carry a firearm outside of your home.”
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, the decision, which comes a month after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a school in Uvalde, Texas, marks the first time the Supreme Court has issued a major decision on gun issues in more than a decade, when it established an individual’s right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.
In Thursday's decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority’s opinion noting the court would follow precedent set in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago establishing that the Second and 14th Amendments ensure individuals’ right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.
Moreover, Thomas wrote that the court held that it was aware of no other constitutionally protected right that required individuals to prove a special circumstance.
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