Anti-gun states are enacting “good moral character” laws to circumvent the Supreme Court’s pro-gun decision in New York Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. Problem is, these laws were historically used to restrict gun ownership for minority groups, such as Native Americans.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen struck down a New York State law that required individuals show “proper cause” in order to obtain a concealed carry permit. Absent a “proper cause” restriction, New York is arguing that “good moral character” restrictions are constitutional even under Bruen’s reasoning. A gun lobby group sued New York for attempting to restrict gun purchases in the state even after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen, and the state responded with a filing that argued that its “good moral character” laws were actually “far less burdensome” than the old racist ones.
“From the early days of English settlement in America, the colonies sought to prevent Native American tribes from acquiring firearms, passing laws forbidding the sale and trading of arms to Indigenous people,” according to the filing. (RELATED: ‘A Smith & Wesson Firearm Has Never Assaulted A Woman’: Gun CEO Blames Politicians For Violence)
The law was also used to restrict Catholics from owning firearms, a fact which New York admits in its advocacy for “good moral character” laws.
“It is sad, but not surprising, to witness gun control activists harken back to their racist roots,” @CraigDeLuz, president and CEO of 2A News Corporation, told the @DailyCaller. https://t.co/faVr7oLBOr
— Sarah Weaver ?? (@SarahHopeWeaver) August 23, 2022
“And even after the English Bill of Rights established a right of the people to arm themselves, the right was only given to Protestants, based on a continual belief that Catholics were likely to engage in conduct that would harm themselves or others and upset the peace,” the filing reads.
The California Office of the Attorney General issued a legal alert to California District Attorneys, Police Chiefs, Sheriffs, County Counsels, and City Attorneys following Bruen that said that while SCOTUS had overturned the “proper cause” consideration, “local officials can and should continue to apply and enforce all other aspects of California law with respect to issuing public-carry licenses.” (RELATED: New York Bans ‘Gendered Language’ In New ‘Salespeople’ Law)
“In particular, the requirement that a public-carry license applicant provide proof of “good moral character” remains constitutional,” the alert reads.
“From the early days of English settlement in America, the colonies sought to prevent Native American tribes from acquiring firearms, passing laws forbidding the sale and trading of arms to Indigenous people,” the filing reads.
— Gun Owners of America (@GunOwners) August 23, 2022
“It proves what GOA has been saying for decades, which is that the origin of gun control is racist,” Aidan Johnston, GOA’s director of federal affairs, told the Daily Caller Tuesday. “Gun laws come from a majority trying to suppress or dominate or control a minority, whether it be a minority of Catholics in early America, or a minority of Native Americans when there’s colonials trying to take over the continent.”
Gun control laws were in fact used in many historic examples to restrict gun ownership for racial minorities and other underprivileged groups. A 1640 Virginia law banned guns for blacks and Native Americans. Even after the Emancipation Proclamation, the Black Codes of Alabama prohibited blacks from carrying arms. As late as 1995, Maine banned guns in public housing, effectively targeting poor citizens for gun bans.
North Carolina currently has a law that requires state residents to obtain a permit to buy a handgun. The law is a Jim Crow era law used to prevent black Americans from carrying guns.
In a case we’re watching, Antonyuk v Bruen, New York State claims their ‘good moral character’ clause is acceptable because:
“From the early days of English settlement in America, the colonies sought to prevent Native American tribes from acquiring firearms…”
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— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) August 22, 2022
“It is sad, but not surprising, to witness gun control activists harken back to their racist roots,” Craig DeLuz, president and CEO of 2A News Corporation, said to the Caller, speaking about New York’s “good moral character” laws.
Even Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez admitted in June that criminal background checks to purchase a firearm were racist. (RELATED: California DOJ Breaks Silence After Massive Leak Of Gun Owners’ Private Info)
.@AOC tells me she is worried about the criminalization in the gun framework: “particularly, the juvenile criminalization, the expansion of background checks into juvenile records, I want to explore the implications of that and how specifically i’s designed and tailored.” 1/
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) June 13, 2022
“After columbine, we hired thousands of police officers into schools and while it didn’t prevent many of the mass shootings that we’ve seen now, it has increased the criminalization of teens in communities like mine,” journalist Eric Michael Garcia quoted AOC as saying.
