Newark mayor says Supreme Court gun ruling will make ‘America a more dangerous place’
Baraka said, "It is disturbing that this ruling to widen the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, comes just as our legislators in Washington have finally reached bi-partisan agreement on some gun safety measures."
News 12 Staff
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Jun 24, 2022, 10:44 AM
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Updated 665 days ago
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11h agoNewark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement that the Supreme
Court’s decision to expand gun rights will “make America a more dangerous
place.”
In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said
Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.
The justices’ 6-3 decision follows a series of recent
mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry
guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities - including New York, Los
Angeles and Boston - and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population live
in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court’s first major
gun decision in more than a decade.
The ruling comes as Congress is working toward passage of
gun legislation following mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the
Constitution protects "an individual’s right to carry a handgun for
self-defense outside the home.”
In their decision, the justices struck down a New York
law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in
order to get a license to carry one in public. The justices said that
requirement violates the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”
In response Baraka issued a statement that can be found
below:
“The Supreme Court ruling today limiting New York’s
ability to regulate individuals carrying guns in public will make America a
more dangerous place.
It is disturbing that this ruling to widen the Second
Amendment’s right to bear arms, comes just as our legislators in Washington
have finally reached bi-partisan agreement on some gun safety measures.
It also sets back the efforts of all lawmakers and
citizens working to bring gun violence in our country in line with the rest of
the civilized world, which collectively have less gun deaths in a year than
America has in a week, or even days.
This ruling follows a trend that puts more Americans at
risk of being victims of gun violence. In communities across the country,
specifically our urban centers, we are seeing record numbers in youth gun
offenses and we must do all that we can to keep our residents safe and free
from harm.
Following the national attention of the murder of 17
fourth-graders and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas and the racist, hate-killing
of 10 people, mostly African-Americans, in a Buffalo supermarket that is still
fresh in our memory; this Supreme Court ruling has the potential to put
thousands, if not millions of guns on our streets. This not only defies logic,
it defines insanity, and is a crime against humanity.
The New York rule, which is similar to New Jersey’s,
asking people to apply for a proper license to ‘show cause’ to carry a weapon
outside the home is born of common sense to keep our cities, towns and rural
areas safer.
History will show that this Supreme Court’s widening of
gun rights will cause more harm and risk the lives of more Americans.”
AP Wire Services contributed to this report.
