Supreme Court Sound Bites

Sound Bite: Facts of the case. The State of New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home. The State of New York makes it a crime to possess a firearm without a license, whether inside or outside the home. An individual who wants to[...]

Sound Bite: The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right. The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not "a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees." The exercise of other constitutional rights does not[...]

Sound Bite: Nothing in the Second Amendment's text draws a home or public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms. It is undisputed that petitioners Koch and Nash, -- two ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens, -- are part of "the people" whom the Second Amendment protects. And no party disputes that handguns[...]

Sound Bite: When it comes to interpreting the Constitution, not all history is created equal. The burden then falls on respondents to show that New York's proper cause requirement is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. To do so, respondents appeal to a variety of historical sources from the late 1200s to[...]

Sound Bite: The Constitution can, and must, apply to circumstances beyond those the Founders specifically anticipated. The test that the Court set forth in Heller, and applies today, requires courts to assess whether modern firearms regulations are consistent with the Second Amendment's text and historical understanding. Of course, the regulatory challenges posed by firearms today,[...]

Sound Bite: Holding. Held: New York's proper cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment, by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs, from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.