Transcript of Supreme Court Oral Arguments for New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen
John Lott - Crime Prevention Research Center | Published on 12/14/2021
This case may be officially about concealed handgun laws, but it could have much more significant implications than just concealed handgun laws. Part of the oral arguments dealt with how courts should evaluate Second Amendment cases. For example, should they use strict or intermediate scrutiny? These are different types of so-called “balancing tests.” When the First Amendment says Congress shall pass no law, balancing tests allow the courts to interpret that as saying Congress shall pass no law unless the courts think they have a good reason to. Or should they follow Scalia’s lead in Heller and follow the bright lines laid down in The Bill of Rights. Kavanaugh seemed skeptical of letting the courts use balancing tests. If the Supreme Court adopted a bright-line rule and not a balancing test, that would be a truly significant win for the Second Amendment. Indeed, possibly all of The Bill of Rights.