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1 1 (February 14, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govykk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Supreme Court Cert Grant Creates Uncertainty in Post-Heller World: Part I February 14, 2019 The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. City of New York, in which it will review a portion of New York City's (NYC or the City) firearms licensing scheme that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Second Circuit) upheld as valid. The grant sets the stage for the Supreme Court, potentially, to clarify the scope of the Second Amendment's protection of an individual right to keep and bear arms, as established in the Court's 2008 ruling, District of Columbia v. Heller. Since Heller, the Supreme Court has substantively opined on the Second Amendment only one other time, in its 2010 opinion, McDonald v. City of Chicago, which held that the Second Amendment applies to the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. How far the Supreme Court will go in clarifying the scope of the Second Amendment, and how it will impact current federal and state firearms laws and the body of lower court jurisprudence developed in the intervening years, remains to be seen. The case also raises other constitutional questions, including whether the NYC licensing scheme violates the Commerce Clause and the constitutional right to travel. This two-part Sidebar will explore the various constitutional questions raised in the lawsuit. Part I addresses the Second Amendment issues, and Part II addresses the Commerce Clause and right-to-travel issues. NYC Licensing Scheme: New York State sets up the general licensing scheme for firearm possession and carrying within the state but allows local jurisdictions, including NYC, to administer licensing programs at the local level, and, as a result, some local licensing schemes are more stringent than others. At the state level, it's a criminal offense to possess or carry a handgun without a license. There are two general types of state licenses available for most handgun owners: those authorizing the possession of a handgun in a particular place, and those authorizing the concealed carrying of a handgun. For example, a premises license-the challenged license type-authorizes the license holder to possess a handgun in the licensee's home. A carry license, on the other hand, authorizes the license holder to carry a concealed handgun, but the license will be issued only when proper cause exists. For both licenses, if an applicant is otherwise qualified and no good cause exists for the denial of the license, the license will be issued. The State of New York delegates to local Licensing Officers the task of administering handgun licenses for local residents. In NYC, the Police Commissioner issues handgun licenses to NYC residents. The NYC Police Department's licensing division issues a premises license that authorizes the license holder to keep a handgun only at the address specified on the license. The licensee may remove the handgun from that address only for two purposes: (1) to transport the handgun to and from an authorized shooting range Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10261 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress