Brady Urges Attention to the Stakes in NYSRPA v Corlett, Latest Gun Case to Come Before the Supreme Court

Washington, D.C., April 26, 2021 - Following the announcement that the Supreme Court will hear arguments in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Corlett, Brady calls for attention to this case from all Americans concerned about gun safety laws. This case has the potential to nullify thousands of life-saving and long-standing gun violence prevention laws that keep public spaces safe from gun violence and protect communities.

Brady President Kris Brown stated:

“Americans want and need strong gun laws, and Americans should be allowed to decide the gun laws they want and need. We cannot allow the Supreme Court to make judges into the super-legislators who decide gun policy in America. We cannot allow the Supreme Court to nullify laws that allow local and state governments to keep guns out of public spaces in pursuit of public safety.

If your child’s college has a prohibition on open carry on campus, the Supreme Courtcould nullify that rule. If your state or city does not allow firearms in its parks or on its street corners, this could nullify those laws. A bad ruling could leave lawmakers and schools virtually powerless to combat America’s gun violence epidemic. We cannot allow that happen, especially now, when momentum and support for strong gun laws has never been greater.

Every American who cares about public safety must be aware of the stakes in this case, and the justices must not accept the ahistorical arguments put forward by the plaintiffs.”

Brady Chief Counsel and Vice President of Legal Jonathan Lowy explained:

“The stakes of this case could not be higher. If the Supreme Court adopts the gun lobby’s extremist view of the Second Amendment, it could deprive Americans of having the gun laws they want and need to protect their communities from gun violence. The gun lobby wants to inject into the Constitution a sweeping right of virtually any person to carry and potentially fire guns virtually anywhere, and subject every gun law to heightened scrutiny. Such a ruling would empower judges to decide gun policy in America, something that has never happened in American history. It would have chosen to hear a case that has the potential to strike at the heart of every gun violence prevention law in the country. It is critical that While we remain optimistic that the justices will rule based on long standing precedent, and the actual history and intended meaning interpretation of the Second Amendment, not the gun lobby’s historical fiction.

The gun lobby is arguing that there is a right to use a firearm in armed confrontation in public. We cannot sit by idly while the gun lobby argues that gun ownership supersedes a person's fundamental right to live. This case has the potential to fundamentally change how courts interpret gun laws in public places and make such places less safe.”

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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.


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