to carry a gun. the justices this morning throwing out a new york law that required residents to prove they had a reason to carry a gun outside the home. the ruling was 6-3 with justice clarence thomas writing for the conservative majority. he said the special cause to carry a concealed handgun was a violation of the second amendment right to bear arms. we have more details on this dramatic decision. reporter: the immediate affect is to strike down this gun law in new york. it required people to show proper cause to get a license to carry a concealed handgun in public. it s now struck down similar laws in six other states will also be struck. more consequentially, this decision will also prompt challenges to all kinds of gun laws across the country. and that s because this decision is really changing the framework on how judges will evaluate gun laws moving forward, and this conservative court is saying for the first time that the constitution guarantees the right to carry
historical part or in the constitution is assault weapons. in the senate bill, they re not including assault weapons. if i was on the side of the gun safety advocates or the states looking to how they can regulate, that s where i would be looking. let s get more important perspective. we have the author of the positive second amendment . sir, grateful for your time. the last big supreme court on guns rights issues, helle re. this decision says read the text. i m going to read the second amendment. it s brief. a well regulated militia being necessary to the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. by that language, and this decision today, can i carry a gun to work? can i carry a gun on a plane? well, this is the issue which the court says it s just not only just the text, but the text, history, and tradition. the text alone isn t going to
about why this case isn t moot and it did seem from the oral argument that a majority of the justices are convinced now that there s nothing to fight over. and that this case should be dismissed. now, that s my guess based on the oral argument. you never know what s going to happen when they start talking about the ruling. but it did seem this case is fizzled out. ali. well, pete, if i were a betting man, i would bet on what your guesses are. thank you, my friend. pete williams for us outside the supreme court. joining me now is joseph, a law professor at duke university and co-director of the center for firearms law. he s also the co-author of the positive second amendment. rights, regulation, and the future of heller. thank you for being with us. you have written that this is a strange case in which to go big. but that, assuming it were to go forward which it might not, that the the stakes are potentially huge. why do you say that? well, if it s not too late, actually i d lik