(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Angry social media users confronted Ron Perlman after he voiced his opinion following Thursday’s Supreme Court 6-3 ruling. The decision struck down a nearly century-old New York state law restricting who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public.
“The latest Supreme Court decision on firearms neglects to say the one thing that they actually meant to say; for whites only,” Perlman tweeted just after 12 p.m.
The social media post received thousands of likes, comments, and retweets before he deleted his words less than 30 minutes later.
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen was the first major Second Amendment case to come before the Supreme Court in more than a decade.
“Why’d you delete this, @perlmutations?” one user wrote. “Did you figure out a Black man is responsible for the decision? It’s like some of you are getting dumber in real time.”
The existing standard required an applicant to show “proper cause” for seeking a license and allowed New York officials to exercise discretion in determining whether a person has established a good enough reason for needing to carry a firearm.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the Court’s opinion, referencing two previous gun cases, that petitioners and respondents agree that ordinary, law-abiding citizens have a similar right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense.
“We too agree, and now hold, consistent with Heller and McDonald, that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home. Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense, we conclude that the State’s licensing regime violates the Constitution.” Thomas wrote.
Thomas noted that the state statute does not define what “proper cause” means and that courts had ruled that the standard was met by people who showed a “special need for self-protection.”
In 43 other states, Thomas stated, authorities are required to issue licenses to applicants who meet specific requirements, and officials do not have the discretion to say no due to what they believe is an insufficient need.
President Joe Biden, who has actively been working on new gun control legislation in the wake of recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, said he was “deeply disappointed” with the ruling.
“This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution and should deeply trouble us all,” Biden said. He added: “We must do more as a society – not less – to protect our fellow Americans.”
