“A dark day for America”: From Los Angeles to New York, left-leaning Democratic states are up in arms against Thursday’s ruling by the majority conservative Supreme Court, which enshrines the right to bear arms away from home.
Gavin Newsom, governor of California, the most populous state in the United States, blasted a decision on Twitter shameful and dangerous : a judgment of the highest American court which risksencourage a radical ideological program while restricting the rights of states to protect their citizens [du risque] to be shot in the street, at school, in church.
He thus announced in a press release that he would sign next week 16 new safety laws, one of which will allow citizens to file complaints against manufacturers and sellers of firearms.
Kathy Hochul, Democratic Governor of New York State (fourth in the country, with 20 million inhabitants) denounced a decision absolutely outrageous and she, too, a dark day for supporters of stricter legislation on the possession and carrying of weapons.
The Supreme Court in Washington, whose majority of justices are conservative, invalidated the restrictions to carry weapons prescribed by New York state law, even as America faces a spike in big-city crime and a chilling string of mass killings, including two in May in Buffalo (10 African-American dead) and in a school in Texas (21 killed, including 19 children).
This New York law attacked by the decision of the Supreme Court limits since 1913 the issuance of permits to carry concealed weapons to people who have reason to believe that they may have to defend themselves, for example because of their profession or threats against them.
Conservatives versus “progressives”
In addition to California and New York, led by Democrats, the so-called “liberal” states (which can be translated by rather “classified on the left” and “progressive”, Editor’s note) of Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, i.e. the capital, Washington, require such a license to carry weapons.
In California, the issuance of this sesame depends on the local sheriffs and police, depending on the counties and their political color.
Concretely, it is easier to obtain a permit in a rural Republican county than in San Francisco, one of the most “progressive” cities in the United States.
The shock decision of the Supreme Court does not immediately break local laws restricting the carrying of weapons, but will certainly provoke multiple legal actions.
There is going to be a game of cat and mouse that will be interesting to watch. Between progressive and conservatives, predicts Jeffrey Fagan, a law professor at Columbia in New York.
Keechant Sewell, the chief of the powerful New York City Police Department (NYPD), tasked with implementing tough-guy Mayor Eric Adams’ anti-gun program, has previously warned that anyone will illegally carry a weapon in New York will be arrested.
And Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has already promised new gun laws with the toughest possible measures that mitigate the damage done today.
Near Washington, the state of Maryland has also warned, through the voice of its attorney general, that its very restrictive laws against firearms demonstrated a reduction in violence.
The chosen one promised to continue to fight to protect the safety of the people of Maryland.
Likewise, in the tiny state of Massachusetts: Attorney General Maura Healey pointed out that this New England state had one of the lowest gun death rates in the country because strong laws are known to save lives.
France Media Agency
Source: Radio-Canada
