The United States Supreme Court will hear a high-stakes Second Amendment lawsuit that experts believe has the power to amend gun rights and significantly increase the number of handguns on the streets of major cities already beset by shootings. 

The U.S. Supreme Court hears major gun rights case

The Supreme Court of the United States announced on Monday that it would consider an appeal to determine whether New York's permit provisions for carrying weapons in public are lawful and whether the Second Amendment protects Americans' ability to carry guns outside their homes. It is the court's first major gun-rights case since Justice Amy Coney Barrett entered the bench in October, bringing the court's political balance to a 6-3 conservative majority. 

The court's decision came more than two weeks after President Joe Biden proposed a slew of executive orders to reduce gun violence. A measure that gun-control advocates praised as a triumph at the time after a string of high-profile mass shootings, including two high-profile events in Atlanta, Ga., and Boulder, Colo., that left a total of 18 people dead.

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Those seeking a permit to carry a concealed weapon in public in eight states, including New York, must justify to the licensing authority granting the permit that they have a legitimate reason to carry one, which may include self-defense. The lawsuit was initiated by two men in New York. They support gun rights organizations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) after refusing requests for permits to carry handguns outside their home when the licensing officer decided they did not need the guns for self-defense.

Around 20 states have "shall-issue" provisions that encourage individuals to get a concealed-carry license if they do not fall under a legally prohibited category, such as getting a felony record. However, "may-issue" concealed-carry state rules, such as the one in question in New York, only issue licenses if the claimant may demonstrate a compelling justification for having one. 

According to Duke Law School professor Joseph Blocher, about 90 million Americans reside in states with may-issue laws, TIME reported. The suit alleges that the provision compelling petitioners to provide "proper cause" to be granted a concealed-carry permit is too high and that the court must resolve this crucial constitutional impasse and reaffirm the citizens' fundamental right to carry a weapon for self-defense.

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Supreme Court to weigh gun rights amid surge violence, gun sales

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it would consider whether Americans have a legal right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense as the country grapples with an increase in gun violence and unprecedented gun sales. The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association and two private gun owners are challenging state gun licensing laws, ABC News reported.

The Supreme Court ruled more than a decade ago that the rights to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment include the right to keep a gun in one's home for self-defense. Despite repeated pleas from gun rights supporters, the majority of the court has yet to make any further decisions on how much states should regulate gun rights.

In two landmark decisions that redefined gun rights in the U.S., the Supreme Court reversed handgun prohibitions in Washington, DC, and Chicago, respectively, in 2008 and 2010. In such cases, a disunited court held that the right to bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment is an individual right, not one linked to the militia, as the court had previously implied.

The National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups celebrated these rulings as a significant success, as per the NPR. On the other hand, the bench has largely ignored gun rights cases in the last decade.

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