Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch on Monday slammed the Supreme Court for rejecting yet another gun rights appeal when the Court hasn't heard a gun rights case in over seven years.
“On a busy morning of decisions, the court on Monday rejected a challenge out of California regarding the right to carry guns outside their homes, leaving in place a San Diego sheriff's strict limits on issuing permits for concealed weapons,” reports Fox News.
“The case in question involved a San Diego man who said state and county policies requiring ‘good cause’ -- a specific reason or justifiable need to legally carry a concealed weapon -- were too restrictive. A federal appeals court had ruled for the state, and now those restrictions will stay in place.”
In their dissent, Thomas and Gorsuch wrote that the case raises “important questions” and that the Court’s decision to turn it away “reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right.”
“The Constitution does not rank certain rights above others, and I do not think this Court should impose such a hierarchy by selectively enforcing its preferred rights,” they argued.
“The Court has not heard argument in a Second Amendment case in over seven years—since March 2, 2010, in McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U. S. 742,” they went on. “Since that time, we have heard argument in, for example, roughly 35 cases where the question presented turned on the meaning of the First Amendment and 25 cases that turned on the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
“This discrepancy is inexcusable, especially given how much less developed our jurisprudence is with respect to the Second Amendment as compared to the First and Fourth Amendments.”
Justices Thomas and Gorsuch concluded by slamming the Court of “standing idly” while California denies its citizens the right to bear arms:
“For those of us who work in marbled halls, guarded constantly by a vigilant and dedicated police force, the guarantees of the Second Amendment might seem antiquated and superfluous. But the Framers made a clear choice: They reserved to all Americans the right to bear arms for self-defense. I do not think we should stand by idly while a State denies its citizens that right, particularly when their very lives may depend on it. I respectfully dissent.”
The case has been remanded to a lower court for further reflection.
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