Newark mayor says Supreme Court gun ruling will make ‘America a more dangerous place’

Baraka said, "It is disturbing that this ruling to widen the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, comes just as our legislators in Washington have finally reached bi-partisan agreement on some gun safety measures."

News 12 Staff

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Jun 24, 2022, 10:44 AM

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Updated 677 days ago

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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement that the Supreme Court’s decision to expand gun rights will “make America a more dangerous place.”

In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public.

The justices’ 6-3 decision follows a series of recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities - including New York, Los Angeles and Boston - and elsewhere. About a quarter of the U.S. population live in states expected to be affected by the ruling, the high court’s first major gun decision in more than a decade.

MORE: US Supreme Court votes to expand gun rights. How will it impact New Jersey’s laws?

The ruling comes as Congress is working toward passage of gun legislation following mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the majority that the Constitution protects "an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”

In their decision, the justices struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun in order to get a license to carry one in public. The justices said that requirement violates the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”

In response Baraka issued a statement that can be found below:

“The Supreme Court ruling today limiting New York’s ability to regulate individuals carrying guns in public will make America a more dangerous place.

It is disturbing that this ruling to widen the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, comes just as our legislators in Washington have finally reached bi-partisan agreement on some gun safety measures.

It also sets back the efforts of all lawmakers and citizens working to bring gun violence in our country in line with the rest of the civilized world, which collectively have less gun deaths in a year than America has in a week, or even days.

This ruling follows a trend that puts more Americans at risk of being victims of gun violence. In communities across the country, specifically our urban centers, we are seeing record numbers in youth gun offenses and we must do all that we can to keep our residents safe and free from harm.

Following the national attention of the murder of 17 fourth-graders and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas and the racist, hate-killing of 10 people, mostly African-Americans, in a Buffalo supermarket that is still fresh in our memory; this Supreme Court ruling has the potential to put thousands, if not millions of guns on our streets. This not only defies logic, it defines insanity, and is a crime against humanity.

The New York rule, which is similar to New Jersey’s, asking people to apply for a proper license to ‘show cause’ to carry a weapon outside the home is born of common sense to keep our cities, towns and rural areas safer.

History will show that this Supreme Court’s widening of gun rights will cause more harm and risk the lives of more Americans.”

AP Wire Services contributed to this report.