Americans have a Freedom to carry a gun: US Supreme Court
New Delhi: The local public in the US may have thought that the freedom to carry a gun in the US will be restricted as gun violence has risen to a dangerous level in the last few months, but everything will remain the same as it was.
The Supreme Court of the US on Thursday ruled that Americans have a fundamental right to carry a handgun in public.
Democratic President Joe Biden denounced the decision, saying it “contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all”.
“We must do more as a society not less to protect our fellow Americans. I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety,” Biden said.
The 6-3 decision strikes down a more than century-old New York law that required a person to prove they had legitimate self-defense need to receive a permit to carry a concealed handgun outside the home.
Five other states, including California, and Washington, the nation’s capital, have similar laws, and the ruling will curb their ability to restrict people from carrying guns in public.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called it a “dark day”, and vowed to enact gun control legislation.
“It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons,” Hochul said.
California’s Governor Gavin Newsom termed the decision “shameful”.
“This is a dangerous decision from a court hell-bent on pushing a radical ideological agenda and infringing on the rights of states to protect our citizens from being gunned down in our streets, schools, and churches,” Newsom tweeted.
(Vinayak)
