NYSRPA v. Bruen MEGATHREAD

[Kang Colby]

Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, but who else is looking forward to the upcoming SCOTUS ruling in NYSRPA? I am, feeling confident that this SCOTUS will get it right.

Recall, back in 2016, a gun control advocate would always sign their posts here with "tick tock". The idea was gun rights were "on the clock", time was running out, and soon we'd have a national "assault weapons" ban, mandatory "buy backs", insurance schemes, purchase permits, and God knows what else.

Instead what happened? Since 2016, 18 more states have passed constitutional carry, we've had record gun sales, congress on a bipartisan basis has no appetite for even the flimsiest of gun control scams, and we have a SCOTUS, who by all indications, understands the meaning of "shall not be infringed". Moral of the story? Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

[AndyS]

1. Oh, Man! What great news! (sarcasm)

The most comprehensive and rigorous study of concealed carry laws found that in states with weak permitting laws, violent crime rates were 13% to 15% higher than predicted had such laws not been in place. *5

Weak concealed-carry permitting laws are also associated with 11% higher rates of homicide committed with handguns compared with states with stronger permitting systems. *6

A study of states that adopted permitless concealed carry laws found that such states experienced a 13% increase in fatal and nonfatal police shootings of civilians compared to what would have been expected had stronger carrying standards remained in place. *7

*5 John J. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle D. Weber, “Right‐to‐Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State‐Level Synthetic Control Analysis,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247.

*6 Michael Siegel, et al., “Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929

*7 Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Officer-Involved Shootings and Concealed Carry Weapons Permitting Laws: Analysis of Gun Violence Archive Data, 2014—2020,” Journal of Urban Health (2022).

https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/concealed-carry/#footnote_6_5601

I'll get back to ya' on the good news that open carry and SYG bring.

[AndyS]

2. Open carry good news! (sarcasm)

Researchers have suggested that the presence of visible firearms may alter behavior and increase aggressive and violent behaviors.*1 Multiple studies show that restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons can increase public safety.

For example, recent analyses have shown that states with weak standards for concealed carry have higher rates of violent crime*2 and gun homicides *3 than would be expected if the states had stricter standards for public carry.

White Supremacists have long used firearms—and permissive open carry laws—to threaten and intimidate others, with examples of such violence going back to the Reconstruction era. *4

In 2017, a group of white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, openly carrying military-style rifles as a means to intimidate and suppress the Constitutional rights of others. *5

White supremacists have also exploited weak open carry laws to threaten and intimidate at other rallies across the country,6 as well as in front of houses of worship7 and electoral campaign offices. *8

*1 Arlin J. Benjamin Jr., Sven Kepes, and Brad J. Bushman, “Effects of Weapons on Aggressive Thoughts, Angry Feelings, Hostile Appraisals, and Aggressive Behavior: A Meta-analytic Review of the Weapons Effect Literature,” Personality and Social Psychology Review (2017); Arlin James Benjamin Jr. and Brad J. Bushman, “The Weapons Priming Effect,” Current Opinion in Psychology 12 (2016): 45-48; David Hemenway, Mary Vriniotis, and Matthew Miller, “Is an Armed Society a Polite Society? Guns and Road Rage,” Accident Analysis & Prevention 38, no. 4 (2006): 687-695.

*2 John J. Donohue, Abhay Aneja, and Kyle D. Weber, “Right‐to‐Carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State‐Level Synthetic Control Analysis.” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247.

*3 Michael Siegel, et al., “Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929.

*4 Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (New York: Harper and Row, 1988).

*5 David Frum, “The Chilling Effect of Openly Displayed Firearms,” The Atlantic, August 16, 2017, https://bit.ly/2w2dZgK.

*8 Emily Tate, “Armed Trump Supporters Protest In Front Of Democrat’s Campaign Office,” The Huffington Post, October 14, 2016, https://bit.ly/2LLxR0O.

https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/open-carry/#footnote_4_5645

There's your open carry!

[AndyS]

3. Can't leave out Stand Your Ground! What a blessing! (do I need a sarcasm at this point?)

The implementation of Florida’s stand your ground law was associated with a 32% increase in firearm homicide rates and a 24% increase in overall homicide rates. *2

Importantly, researchers found that Florida’s stand your ground law increased both justifiable and unlawful homicide rates. *3

The state’s stand your ground law had the largest negative impact on neighborhoods that initially had the lowest homicide rates before the law was enacted. *4

In 79% of Florida Stand Your Ground cases, the assailant could have retreated to avoid the confrontation, and in 68% of cases, the person killed was unarmed. *5

*2 David K. Humphreys, Antonio Gasparrini, and Douglas J. Wiebe, “Evaluating the Impact of Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ Self-defense Law on Homicide and Suicide by Firearm: an Interrupted Time Series Study,” JAMA Internal Medicine 177, no. 1 (2017): 44–50

*3 David K. Humphreys, Antonio Gasparrini, and Douglas J. Wiebe, “Association Between Enactment of a ‘Stand Your Ground’ Self-defense Law and Unlawful Homicides in Florida,” JAMA Internal Medicine 177, no. 10 (2017): 1523–1524.

*4 Benjamin Ukert, Douglas J. Wiebe, and David K. Humphreys, “Regional Differences in the Impact of the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law in Florida,” Preventive Medicine 115 (2018): 68–75.

*5 Robert J. Spitzer, “Stand Your Ground Makes No Sense,” The New York Times, May 4, 2015, https://nyti.ms/2CcMW4y.

https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/guns-in-public/stand-your-ground-laws/#footnote_4_5647

Forgive me if I don't join in your celebration . . .

[PTWB]

4. The pendulum shifting toward free exercise of gun rights is inevitable

The gun grabbers have overplayed their hand. They’ve refused to compromise on common sense, good for everyone legislation and in doing so ensured that no legislation gets passed while the rightward drift of the courts erodes the unconstitutional infringements passed by previous generations.

Open carry, while lawful, is a stupid practice. My personal view is that we should have permitted concealed carry with minimum standards and guaranteed national reciprocity if those minimum standards are met or exceeded.

And we should barter with other popular gun control measures such as mandatory safe storage laws and universal background checks. Agree to those laws in order to reform the antiquated NFA, delist suppressors, and update definitions to modernize what actually constitutes a pistol, a rifle, and an AOW. The NFA in its current form is going to be on the chopping block with the current rightward lean of the courts, so now is the time to barter if we want to pass anything meaningful.

[AndyS]

5. Please elaboraate on what updates should be made . . .

update definitions to modernize what actually constitutes a pistol, a rifle, and an AOW.

[The Mouth]

6. Woo Hoo

We won!

It's not in the slightest anyone else's business if I'm carrying. The more miserable the people who would like to see me *not* able to carry are, the better.

[Fla_Democrat]

7. It is kinda entertaining

watching the F,F & L's take on the ruling. One would think that when the decision came down, giant cargo planes landed in every city ala Lord of War...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

8. One reason not to trust the government on gun-control:

"While private gunrunners continue to thrive, the world's biggest arms suppliers are the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, and China. They are also the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council." - Andrew Niccol, from Lord of War.

Unlike Doc Holliday's, government hypocrisy during certain times appears unlimited.

[Fla_Democrat]

9. One MORE reason not to trust the......