Supreme Court will hear New York gun rights case on transporting unloaded handguns

KEY POINTS

• The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday took up a 2nd Amendment case that could limit restrictions on gun owners.
• The case concerns a New York City ban on transporting handguns except directly to and from shooting ranges, and requires the weapon to be unloaded and stored in a locked container.
• Three handgun owners and the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association challenged the ban, arguing that it unconstitutionally interfered with their right to gun ownership, as well as their right to travel.

A man buys a gun at the Gun Gallery in Glendale, California.

Gabriel Bouys | AFP | Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will hear a 2nd Amendment case that could limit restrictions on gun owners.

The case concerns a New York City ban on transporting handguns except directly to and from shooting ranges, and requires the weapon to be unloaded and stored in a locked container.

Three handgun owners and the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association challenged the ban, arguing that it unconstitutionally interfered with their right to gun ownership, as well as their right to travel.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the gun owners' claims, and in February of last year the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.

The gun owners brought their case to the high court in June and asked the justices to reverse the second circuit's ruling.

"Both the City's transport ban and the Second Circuit's decision sanctioning it are extreme outliers even among Second Amendment decisions," they wrote in one brief. "Indeed, if the Second Circuit's version of heightened scrutiny is what this Court had in mind in Heller and McDonald, there was little point to recognizing a fundamental, individual right and making it applicable against state and local governments."

The justices' decision to take the case marks the first time in nearly a decade that it will delve into 2nd Amendment law. It is the first gun rights case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the bench. Kavanaugh is believed to have an expansive view of gun rights based on his lower court rulings on the matter.

The case is New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, New York, No. 18-280.

A decision is expected by late June.

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