Opinion 2026-10-13 Updated 6 days ago
In legal terms
Carry laws decide who can get a permit and where they can carry.
After Bruen, a state has to show its carry rules fit historical tradition. The fights are over permit requirements, fees, training mandates and delays.
What this means, in plain English
Carry laws decide who can get a permit and where they can carry.
After Bruen, a state has to show its carry rules fit historical tradition. The fights are over permit requirements, fees, training mandates and delays.
Carry rules decide where permit holders can lawfully carry and who can get a permit. Rulings here follow the Bruen history-and-tradition test.
Timeline
Key terms
- Bruen (2022)
- The Supreme Court case that struck down New York's rule requiring a special reason to get a permit to carry in public (2022, 6-3). It left "shall-issue" permit systems in place. It set the test courts use today: if the Second Amendment's text covers what you did, the government must show its law fits the country's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
- Means-end scrutiny
- Balancing a law's benefits against its burden on a right. Bruen rejected this approach for Second Amendment cases and replaced it with the history test.
Related
Justice Department Opens Investigation of Pennsauken, New Jersey’s Allegedly Unconstitutional Permit Delays
The Justice Department opened an investigation into whether Pennsauken, New Jersey's delays in issuing gun permits violate residents' Second Amendment rights.
Sources: court dockets, the Federal Register, DOJ releases and Congress.gov. Informational only, not legal advice. Items marked Unverified are awaiting review.