Biden ‘Deeply Troubled’ Over Supreme Court Ruling Upholding Second Amendment

President Joe Biden admonished the Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday for its ruling striking down the state of New York’s restrictions on concealed carry firearms permits.

On Thursday, The Daily Wire reported that the high court ruled 6-3 in favor of gun rights in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen. The court heard oral arguments in the case in November, and the court’s conservative majority appeared to lean toward dismissing New York’s restrictions at the time. Thursday’s decision is the widest expansion of gun rights in more than a decade, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Biden issued a statement saying that he was “deeply disappointed” in the court for its decision in the case.

“This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all,” he added.

The president appealed to recent acts of gun violence as evidence as to why New York’s law is needed while claiming that SCOTUS’ ruling endangers lives.

“In the wake of the horrific attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde, as well as the daily acts of gun violence that do not make national headlines, we must do more as a society — not less — to protect our fellow Americans,” Biden claimed. “I remain committed to doing everything in my power to reduce gun violence and make our communities safer. I have already taken more executive actions to reduce gun violence than any other President during their first year in office, and I will continue to do all that I can to protect Americans from gun violence.”

The president also encouraged states to “enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence,” while noting that “the Second Amendment is not absolute.”

“For centuries, states have regulated who may purchase or possess weapons, the types of weapons they may use, and the places they may carry those weapons,” the president continued. “And the courts have upheld these regulations.”

Biden concluded by calling “Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety.”

“Lives are on the line,” he warned.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion and argued that New York’s requirement that citizens must demonstrate a need for concealed carry was unconstitutional.

“We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion,” Thomas wrote. “It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.”

The court also found that the law violated the 14th amendment.

“New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms,” Thomas wrote.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) also condemned the ruling, saying, “It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons.”

Tim Pearce contributed to this report.

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