Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill, along with attorneys general and governors from 22 other states, is asking the US Supreme Court to hear a case surrounding the rights of individuals to carry firearms outside their homes.
The states are asking the court to review a lower court ruling in Rogers v. Grewal.
The lower court upheld a New Jersey law which restricts a person’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense, unless the person can demonstrate a ‘justifiable need’ to do so.
Critics of the law argue it conflicts with other federal court decisions in similar cases.
In July 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Hawaii law similar to New Jersey’s. That court stated that the Second Amendment protects the right to openly bear arms in public for self-defense purposes.
“The Constitution very plainly guarantees that all law-abiding citizens have the right to bear arms,” Attorney General Hill said. “Requiring individuals to prove special circumstances in order to ‘qualify’ for this right completely misconstrues the meaning of the Second Amendment. Under such an interpretation, in fact, carrying firearms becomes a privilege granted to a chosen few rather than a right enjoyed by all free people.”
The New Jersey case stems from an application filed by Thomas R. Rogers in 2017.
Rogers filed the application for a handgun carry permit because he services ATM machines and carries large amounts of cash as part of his job.
Rogers was denied the right to carry because his police chief decided he did not have a ‘justifiable need’ under New Jersey law.
Click here to read the formal brief filed by Hill and others.
