Supreme Court declines to hear two Second Amendment cases

The Supreme Court on Monday announced it would not hear two key cases surrounding the Second Amendment.

One case centered on California’s concealed-carry law that allows sheriffs to require individuals applying for concealed-carry permits to cite a need for the permit, such as feeling threatened, according to The Washington Post. 

The second case dealt with the federal law that bans felons from possessing guns, according to CNN. 

In the California case, gun-rights advocacy group the California Rifle and Pistol Association Foundation filed a brief seeking the court’s opinion in the case, claiming that the California law could lead to a prohibition on carrying a gun outside the home for any reason.

{mosads}The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the law was constitutional, saying in its decision that “the protection of the Second Amendment — whatever the scope of that protection may be — simply does not extend to the carrying of concealed firearms in public by members of the general public.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch dissented from the majority, saying the Court should have taken the California case. 

“The Court’s decision to deny certiorari in this case reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right,” Thomas wrote in his dissent. “For those of us who work in marbled halls, guarded constantly by a vigilant and dedicated police force, the guarantees of the Second Amendment might seem antiquated and superfluous. But the Framers made a clear choice: They reserved to all Americans the right to bear arms for self-defense.”