WELCOME TO “MATTER OF FACT.” IT’S A BLOCKBUSTER TERM FOR THE SUPREME COT. THE NINEUS JTICES ARE HEARING A CRUCIAL GUN RIGHTS CASE. IT COULD CHANGE THE WAY CITIZENS CARRY FIREARMS IN EVERYDAY LIFE, POSSIBLY LEADING TO MORE GUNS ON THE STREETS AND THREATENING RESTRICTIONS IN PLACES LIKE MOVIE THEATRES AND RESTAURANTS THE CASE, NEW YORK STATE RIFLE AND PISTOL ASSOCIATI VON BRUEN, CHALLENGES NEW YORK’S GUN PERMIT LAW. THAT LAW RESTRICTS THE CARRYING OF GUNS OUTSIDE THE HOME TO THOSE WHO CAN DEMONSTRATE A NEED TO DO SO FOR SELF PROTECONTI THE LAST TIME THE COURT ISSUED MAJOR DECISIONS ON GUN RIGHT WAS IN 2008 AND 2010. CONSERVATIVE VICTORIES TTHA ESTABLISHED THRIE GHT TO KEEP A GUN AT HOME FOR SELF-DEFENSE. THE QUESTION NOW IS WHETHER THERE IS A SIMILAR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHT TO CARRY A FIREARM IN PUBC. JOINING ME NOW, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW SCHOLAR ADAM WINER, KLWHO TEACHES AT UCLA. HE IS THE AUTHOR OF “GUNFIGHT: THE BATTLE OVER THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS IN AMERICA.” PROFESSOADR AM WINKLER, NICE TO TALK TO YOU. WHAT IS THE SUPREME COURT SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT IN THIS PARTICULARAS C PROF. WINKLER: THE SUPREME CRTOU IS DECIDING THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF NEW YORK’S RESTRICTIONS ON CONCEALED CARR MOST STATES ALLOW YOU TO CARRY A GUN, AS LONG AS YOU GET A PERMIT, AND IT’S PRETTY EASY TO GET A PERM.IT BUT NEW YORK AND CALIFORNIA AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER STATES MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO G A PERMIT. AND THE CHALLENGERS ARE SAYING THAT VIOLATES THE SECOND AMENDMENT. SOLEDAD: SO THE IMPLICATIONSF O OBVIOUSLY THE CASE IS NOT JUST ABOUT NEW YORK, ENWH THE SUPREME COURT IS LOOKING AT SOMETHING VERY CLOSELY. IT HAS MUCH BROADER IMPLICATIO.NS WHAT ARE THE BIGGER IMPAS,CT POTENTIALLY? PROF. WINKLE WR:ELL, THIS COULD HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE NUMBER OF GUNS ON CITY STREETS ACROSS AMERICA, WHEREVESTR ATES HAVE VERY STRONG RESTRICTIONS ON CONCEALED CARRY, THOSE RESTRICTIONS MAY BE LIFTED IN THE WAKE OF A SUPREME COURT DECISION STRIKING DOWN NEW YORK’S LAW. BUT THIS CASE ALSO HAS BROADER IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GUN SAFETY REFORM MOVEMENT MORE GENALLY,ER BECAUSE I THINK THE COURIST NOW SIGNALING THAT IT IS GOING TO STRENGTHEN SECOND AMDMENTEN PROTECTIONS, WHICH COULD MEAN THAT LAWS LIKE BANS ON ASSAULT WEAPONS OR HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES COULD BEEX NT ON THE SUPREME COURT’S LIST OF LAWS TO RECONSERID ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING THINGS IS THAT IT WASN’T UNTIL 2008 THAT THE SUPREME COURT SAID THAT THE SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTED AN INDIVIDUAL RIT AND THE SUPREME COURT IN 2008, IN A CASE CALLED DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AGAINST HELLER, SAID THAT THE SECOND AMENDMENT PROTECTS YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE A HAGUNDN IN YOUR HOME FOR PERSONAL PROTECTION. BUT THE COURT LEFT OPEN A BUNCH OF QUESTNSIO, SUCH AS, DO YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO CARRY A GUN IN PUBLIC? AND, WHICH KIN ODSF WEAPONS ARE PROTECTED BY THE SECOND AMENDMENT? SOLEDAD: I THOUGHT JUSTICELI A SAID THIS — “ALL THESE PEOPLE WITH ILLEGAL GUNS, THEY’RE ON THE SUBWAY WALKING AROUND THE STREETS. BUT ORDINARY, HARDWORKING, LAW ABIDING PEOPLE KNOW THEY CAN’T BE ARM.” WHAT DOES THAT TELL USBO A ALITO? OUTSIDE OF THAT HE OBVIOUSLY IS A VERY STRONG SUPPORTER OF THE SECOND AMEME.ND PROF. WINKLER: WELL, I THINK THAT JUSTICE ALITO BUYS IN THAT NRA ARGUMENT THAT THE ONLY THING THAT’S GOING TO STOP A BAD GUY WITH A GUN IS A GOOD GUY WITH A GUN. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF GUNS IN AMERICA. A LOT OF BAD GUYS DO HAVE NSGU WE CAN QUESTION WHETHER IT’S TRUE, THAT A GOOD GUY WITH AUN WILL ACTUALLY DO MUCH TO PREVENT THE DANGER THAT’S CAUSED BY A BAD GUY WITH A G. BUT JUSTICE ALITO CLEAY BELIEVES IN A VERY STRONG AND ROBUST SECOND AMENDMENT, AND BELIEVES THAT PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WI FTHIREARMS ALMOST ANYWHERE THEY GO. SOLEDAD: WITH THE CONSERVATIVE SUPREME COURT, IT SEEMS PRET OBVIOUS TO ME, THE WAY THAT THEY’RE BOTH SIGNALING THAT THEY’RE GOING TO GO, AND THUS LEAD THE WAY THEY’RE GOING TO GO. WHAT DO YOU THINK? PROF. WINKLER: IT DOES SEEM LIKE, AS EVERYONE PREDICTED, THAT THESE NEW TRUMP JUSTICE WERE GOING TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT ON THE SUPREME COURT. IT’S GOING TO BE TH CASE IS — THE CASE IS PREPARED TO MAKE SOME SERIOUS CHANGES IN AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, AND THIS GUN CASE IS REALLY THE BEGINNI.NG SOLEDAD:

On the Docket: Where Do Americans Have a Right to Bear Arms?

Updated: 6:26 PM PDT Nov 5, 2021

For the first time in more than a decade, the Supreme Court is poised to make a major ruling on gun rights. Justices are hearing a case that challenges New York State’s longstanding gun permit law. For more than a century, only residents who can prove they need a gun for self-defense in public are allowed to carry firearms outside the home. If the Court strikes the rule down, that could lead to more guns on the streets. It all comes down to whether Americans have a right to bear arms specifically in public. Soledad talks to constitutional law scholar and UCLA professor Adam Winkler about what justices will need to consider.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Supreme Court is poised to make a major ruling on gun rights. Justices are hearing a case that challenges New York State’s longstanding gun permit law. For more than a century, only residents who can prove they need a gun for self-defense in public are allowed to carry firearms outside the home. If the Court strikes the rule down, that could lead to more guns on the streets. It all comes down to whether Americans have a right to bear arms specifically in public. Soledad talks to constitutional law scholar and UCLA professor Adam Winkler about what justices will need to consider.