US supreme court overturns New York handgun law in bitter blow to gun-control push

The US supreme court has opened the door for almost all law-abiding Americans to carry concealed and loaded handguns in public, after the conservative majority struck down a New York law that placed strict restrictions on firearms outside the home.

The New York law, Thomas wrote, also violated the 14th amendment, which made second-amendment rights applicable to the states.

Biden pointed to the longevity of New York gun laws and to past supreme court acceptance of the need to regulate gun ownership.

Just weeks ago, an 18-year-old carrying a legally bought assault-style rifle shot and killed 10 people in a racist attack on a supermarket in a majority Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York.

Ten days later, another 18-year-old broke into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 children and two adults before being shot dead by law enforcement.

The court has steadily undermined gun laws, recognising a right to keep guns at home for self-defense in 2008 and extending that right two years later.

Civil rights and gun safety groups attempted to sway the court. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that lifting controls on guns in public places would harm first amendment rights such as assembly, association and speech. Gun control advocates warned that scrapping the law could hit relations between police and citizens because anyone in contact with law enforcement would be more likely to be legally armed.