Supreme Court Grants Cert in Critical Second Amendment Case

The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) today praised the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a critical case involving the fundamental, constitutional right to travel with a firearm. The case, which is backed by the National Rifle Association, challenges New York City's strict limits on the right to travel with a firearm outside of the home. The right to travel is a precursor to the right of self-defense and defines gun ownership outside the home in general.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to hear this case sets the stage for affirming the individual right to self-defense outside of the home,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA-ILA.

The NRA-supported case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. The City of New York, challenges the constitutionality of a New York City law that bans law-abiding handgun owners from traveling outside the city with their firearm. Currently, a licensed handgun owner in New York City is prohibited from taking their firearm outside of their home unless they are going to a shooting range inside the city. This draconian restriction means law-abiding gun owners are prohibited from taking their handguns to ranges outside of the city, or on hunting trips, or anywhere to which they wish to travel and have their gun available for self-defense at their destination.

More than a decade has passed since the court recognized the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a handgun in the home for self-defense in District of Columbia v. Heller. In 2010, in McDonald v. Chicago, the court recognized that individual right is fundamental and applies to the states. Since those decisions, the Supreme Court has declined to hear several Second Amendment cases.

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