Supreme Court will hear gun rights case in December, a temporary setback for gun control groups

WASHINGTON – Gun rights will be in the Supreme Court's sights this term after all.

The justices Monday kept a case about a New York City gun control regulation on its 2019 docket despite action by the city and state to erase the regulation from the books.

The court's refusal to dismiss the case represents a temporary victory for proponents of gun rights, who hope the high court will go beyond the letter of the law and expand Second Amendment protections from the home to public places.

But the court still may decide to declare the case moot after hearing oral arguments in December, particularly after mass shootings this summer in Texas, Ohio and elsewhere.

Since establishing a national right to possess guns at home for self-defense in 2008 and extending that ruling to the states in 2010, the court has refused to re-enter the gun debate. In the meantime, most lower courts have upheld state and local restrictions on gun ownership.