Supreme Court rewrites how courts evaluate gun laws in Bruen, requiring firearms regulations to match 18th-century historical precedent

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen on June 23, 2022, striking down New York''s requirement that applicants demonstrate "proper cause" for an unrestricted concealed carry license. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion scrapping the previous two-part interest-balancing test used by lower courts and replacing it with a new standard: when a law burdens Second Amendment-protected conduct, the government must show the regulation is consistent with the historical tradition of firearm regulation in the United States at the time of the Founders. The ruling immediately called into question hundreds of existing state and federal gun regulations and caused lower courts to strike down laws previously upheld under the old test, including several state assault weapons bans.