Suits Seek a Right to Carry Guns in Public, Setting Up a New Supreme Court Showdown
Supporters of gun rights are filing suits claiming a constitutional right to carry firearms in public, paving the way for a new Second Amendment showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The suits are among scores of lawsuits challenging everything from age restrictions on carrying guns outside the home to permit requirements calling for firearms courses, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. So far, gun supporters have lost more cases than they have won, the story says.
Some view two Illinois suits challenging a concealed weapons ban as the most likely Supreme Court contenders. The newspaper spoke to UCLA law professor Adam Winkler about the litigation.
“Whether the right to bear arms extends to outside the home is the next battlefield,” Winkler said. “And if that right does exist, courts then have to wrestle with a whole host of other issues, like how far it extends and what kinds of permitting regimes are permissible.”
