Justices hear arguments in major gun rights case from New York

The WASHINGTON — Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed ready to strike down a restrictive New York gun permitting law, but the justices also seemed worried that a broad ruling could threaten gun restrictions on subways, bars, stadiums and other gathering places.

The court was hearing arguments in its biggest guns case in more than a decade, a dispute over whether New York’s law violates the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms.”

Chief Justice John Roberts and other conservative members of the court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, suggested New York’s law goes too far. Why, Roberts asked, does a person seek- ing a license to carry a gun in public for self defense have to show a special need to do so. “The idea that you would need a license to exercise a right is unusual with regard to the Bill of Rights,” he said.

But Roberts was also among the justices who pressed a lawyer for the law’s challengers on where guns might be prohibited. Could a football stadium or a college campus be off limits, he asked.

“What sort of place do you think they could be excluded from? Any place where alcohol is served?”

Roberts asked.

Paul Clement, arguing on behalf of New York residents who want an unrestricted right to carry concealed weapons in public, replied that while government buildings and schools might be off limits, bars “might be a tougher case for the government.”

But answering questions from Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett, Clement suggested that perhaps bans on guns in the New York City subway system, Yankee Stadium and Times Square on New Year’s Eve might be all right.

The court’s liberals seemed willing to allow the state law to remain in place.