Have Gun, Can't Travel

The first time the Supreme Court defended the Second Amendment, it overturned a Washington, D.C., law that made it a crime to keep any sort of accessible and operable firearm in the home for self-defense. Two years later, the Court struck down a Chicago law that went almost as far, banning possession of handguns within the city limits.

Last week the Court accepted a case involving another extreme example of gun control: a law that prohibits New Yorkers from taking their legally owned handguns with them when they travel outside the city. This is only the third time in more than a decade that the justices have grappled with the question of which firearm restrictions are consistent with the Second Amendment, and the history of the case shows why that reckoning is overdue.

Most New York City residents can legally own handguns only by obtaining a license that requires them to keep the weapons at home. The sole exception is for trips to one of the seven target shooting ranges within the city, when the firearms have to be unloaded and locked in a container separate from the ammunition.

Three New Yorkers, joined by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, are challenging that rule, which they say unconstitutionally interferes with their right to keep guns for self-defense and to hone the skills required for that purpose. One of the plaintiffs would like to take his handgun to a second home in Delaware County, and all three want the freedom to bring their firearms to ranges and shooting competitions outside the city.