Supreme Court to consider scope of gun rights in major Second Amendment case

Washington — More than a decade after its last major decision on gun rights, the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday whether restrictions on the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense pass constitutional muster. 

At the heart of the dispute is a New York law that has been on the books for more than a century, and gun control groups are warning that a decision lifting the limits on public carry would have a cascading effect, putting other state and city restrictions at risk at a time when gun violence is on the rise. But for supporters of gun rights, the Supreme Court's decision to consider the scope of the Second Amendment is long overdue.

The case is the most significant involving the right to bear arms since the Supreme Court in 2008 ruled the Second Amendment protects the right to have a handgun in the home for self-defense, and in 2010 said the right applies to the states. In the years since those decisions, the high court has spurned numerous other legal battles over state gun regulations, to the displeasure of some of its conservative members, namely Justice Clarence Thomas.