Cruz and 24 Senate Republicans file an amicus brief defending the right to exercise the Second Amendment



[ad_1]

EXCLUSIVE: Senator Ted Cruz and two dozen Senate Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, filed an amicus brief Tuesday in a Second Amendment case the Supreme Court is expected to hear this fall, arguing that the law on New York guns violate the constitutional right to bear arms.

Cruz and his GOP colleagues filed a brief in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, for which the Supreme Court granted a certificate in April.

The High Court, in its October 2021 tenure, is expected to consider whether the Second Amendment allows the government to prohibit ordinary law-abiding citizens from carrying handguns outside their homes in self-defense.

New York law prohibits carrying a firearm outside the home without a permit and then makes it extremely difficult to obtain a permit. New York requires people to explain why they should get a license.

Republican senators argued that New York law violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms, arguing that the goal of including that right in the Constitution was for the decision to be made out of the hands of state lawmakers. and federal.

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nomination of Samantha Power to be the next administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday March 23, 2021 at Capitol Hill in Washington.  (Greg Nash / Pool via AP)

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nomination of Samantha Power to be the next administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday March 23, 2021 at Capitol Hill in Washington. (Greg Nash / Pool via AP)

“Lawmakers, whether in Albany or Washington DC, have neither the power nor the authority to question political judgments made by drafters and enshrined in the Constitution,” Cruz and his fellow Republicans wrote in the amicus brief.

“Gun policy can be complex, and members of Congress, like state and local officials, can vehemently disagree,” they wrote. “But elected officials swear to support and defend the Constitution and respect so much when the Framers have made a decision out of their hands.

“The Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms cannot be questioned by lawmakers across the country who simply do not agree with the Framers’ choice,” they wrote.

Cruz and McConnell were joined by GOP Sens. John Barrasso, Marsha Blackburn, John Boozman, Mike Braun, John Cornyn, Tom Cotton, Kevin Cramer, Mike Crapo, Steve Daines, Josh Hawley, John Hoeven, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Jim Inhofe, Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Jerry Moran, Jim Risch, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Thom Tillis in their memory.

New York is one of eight states that restrict the right to carry a gun in public. The others are: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

[ad_2]

Source link