Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said, “By incorrectly dismissing this case as moot, the court permits our docket to be manipulated in a way that should not be countenanced.” His dissention was also signed by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch.
What’s At Stake?
The case in question revolved around a law specific to New York City. The question was whether or not citizens who have a license to own a gun in their house were allowed to bring them to shooting ranges outside the city or to another home they might own in New York State. The state of New York even went so far as to pass a law saying that the old law couldn’t be reinstated down the road.
The now-rescinded law said that a person might not transport their gun outside of their home. But as soon as the case was filed and made it to the Supreme Court, New York City quickly changed the law.
They didn’t want to risk the Supreme Court deciding that New York City residents could, in fact, carry a weapon outside their home for self-defense. This would have a rippling effect, not only in New York City, but over the entire country.
It seemed obvious to gun owners that New York City would rather give up their draconian law than risk expanding current gun rights for millions of people all over the country.
They’ll Give An Inch to Avoid Giving Us a Mile
But just because they’d decided to reign in their tyrannical laws and rescind it didn’t mean that gun owners in New York hadn’t been wronged and didn’t still have a case. Until this morning, that is, when the Supreme Court dismissed it as no longer relevant.
The Justices who said the case no longer mattered since the underlying law was changed were: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh additionally wrote that he agreed that it was wise to toss the case out, but thought that the issue still deserved attention from the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh said, “I share Justice Alito’s concern that some federal and state courts may not be properly applying” the Supreme Court’s decision recognizing an individual’s right to gun ownership. The court should address that issue soon, perhaps in one of the several Second Amendment cases with petitions for certiorari now pending before the court.”
The Left Never Sleeps
Notice how the moment it looks bad for the anti-gun, anti-freedom hard left, they back off and pretend that they’re all about fairness?
They are always looking for ways to advance gun control–until one law pushes too far and it looks like it might blow up in their faces. Then they back off, repeal the law and even pass a law saying, essentially, “We won’t try that again!”
They’ll do anything to avoid giving the Second Amendment a hearing. Anything to avoid having their tyrannical laws closely inspected.
We hope the bigger picture here was caught by the gun rights crowd. Of course the NYC law was awful to start with, but it’s even more insidious how the city and now the Supreme Court have done everything they can to not have to address the previous wrongs done to gun owners.
The Left never sleeps…and neither should we.