Anti-Gunners Are Trying to Decide Just How Bad the Ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen Will Be

You wouldn’t think that you could write an article about the potential outcomes of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen without talking to at least one person on the plaintiffs’ side of the case, but the hacks at Fast Company managed to do just that.

Even if the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it’s hard to predict how broad its decision may be. A narrow ruling could involve striking down the “proper cause” requirement for a permit. New York would struggle to restrict guns in public, and may have to start issuing concealed carry permits. The ruling may also extend to the remaining nine may-issue states, including California, Maryland, and Massachusetts, at a time when gun violence is rising across the U.S. Still, this is the best-case scenario.
 
If the ruling is more expansive, it could ditch the entire public-safety framework that lower courts have been using to uphold carry restrictions. It could provide a whole new basis for future decisions—on all kinds of gun regulation lawsuits currently in limbo, and supported by the gun lobby, relating to assault weapons bans, large-magazine bans, and the minimum age for the sale of handguns. They could fundamentally redefine the Second Amendment and change America’s gun laws.

“That could be a really devastating decision that could have wide-ranging—and I think, not currently fathomable—impacts,” [Giffords Law Center deputy chief counsel David] Pucino says. “Because, it potentially could mean that every gun law on the books is called into question.”