Ahead of SCOTUS Hearing, Leading Gun Safety Groups Release Joint Letter Condemning the NRA’s Latest Attack on Common Sense Gun Laws

 On December 2, SCOTUS will hear first Second Amendment Case in Nearly a Decade 

November 21, 2019 – Today, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Brady released an open letter to rally supporters against the NRA’s latest attack on common-sense gun laws.

On December 2 – the fourth anniversary of a mass shooting that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California – the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc et al. v. City of New York. At issue is a now-repealed New York City regulation that does not exist anywhere else in the United States; there is not any effort to implement similar regulations anywhere else.

This is the first major case involving gun rights to be taken up by the Supreme Court since District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010.

If the NRA and their allies are successful in transforming this moot case into a platform for the Supreme Court to upend the post- Heller consensus in the lower courts, it will put the more than 300 gun safety laws passed since Sandy Hook at risk.

The full text of the letter is below and here [ LINK ] –

To supporters of gun violence prevention:

On December 2nd, the Supreme Court will hear a case brought by the New York State affiliate of the NRA that could put nearly every important gun safety law at risk, potentially undoing much of the progress our movement has made in recent years – and blocking our future progress. At issue is a New York City regulation that no longer exists, can by law never exist again anywhere in New York, and doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country. This raises the question: What is the NRA really trying to accomplish?

The answer is clear, and it should concern all of us: The NRA is trying to advance its radical interpretation of the Second Amendment and attack hundreds of common-sense, constitutional gun safety laws currently in place across the country.

Since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, supporters of common-sense gun safety measures have passed more than 300 gun safety laws that are making our communities safer. We’ve done so in red states, blue states, and everywhere in between. While we have more work to do, these laws are constitutional, overwhelmingly popular – and they’re working.

Even in this deeply polarized era, this is an area where Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike agree.

The right of Americans and their representatives to enact the gun safety laws we want and need is in grave danger. A sweeping and unnecessary ruling by the Supreme Court could threaten nearly everything we’ve fought for, including laws that:

• Require background checks on all gun sales;
• Regulate who can carry guns in public and where they can carry them;
• Prohibit large-capacity magazines and assault weapons used in deadly mass shootings and day-to-day gun violence; and
• Deny criminals, domestic abusers, and others at a high risk of violence access to
• firearms, including newly-passed and highly effective extreme risk laws.

The Constitution is clear, and so are the American people: the Supreme Court should not step in to deprive us of our rights to live safely and to enact laws to protect ourselves from gun violence. And the Supreme Court certainly shouldn’t go out of its way to do it by ruling on a case even after the plaintiffs got everything they said they wanted – and more. That’s not how the courts are supposed to work.

That’s why we need you to stand with us and demand the Court reject this broad attack on the country’s constitutional and common-sense gun safety laws. If you are ready to stand up to the NRA, join us at the Supreme Court on Monday, December 2.

If we lose, it could mean even more guns in public spaces, more guns in the hands of people who should not have them, and more dangerous guns on the streets.

We can’t let that happen – there’s just too much at stake.

Sincerely,

Robyn Thomas Executive Director, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Kris Brown President, Brady

John Feinblatt President, Everytown for Gun Safety

About Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation’s leading policy organization dedicated to researching, writing, enacting, and defending proven laws and programs, is on a mission to save lives from gun violence by shifting culture, changing policies, and challenging injustice.

About Brady

Brady has one powerful mission — to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in common sense. In the spirit of our namesakes Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 45 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It’s in our hands.

About Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it – by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public. Learn more at www.EverytownResearch.org.