Supreme Court to hear case on New York's gun permit law
The Supreme Court is preparing to hear a gun rights case that could lead to more guns on the streets of New York and Los Angeles and threaten restrictions on guns in subways, airports, bars, churches, schools and other places where people gather.
Guns are on Supreme Court's agenda days after mass shootings
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. Scott Applewhite, File)WASHINGTON โ A possible expansion of gun rights is on the Supreme Court's agenda, days after mass shootings in Colorado and Georgia. The appeal comes from New York, which gun rights groups say is among eight states that make it difficult if not virtually impossible for people to get permits to carry guns in public. Unclear is whether the recent mass shootings will affect the court's consideration of the case. โThe justices may be more reluctant to take a big Second Amendment case right now," Winkler said.
Courts wrestle with whether manslaughter is always violent
(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)NEW YORK โ Once annually, sometimes less, the full federal appeals court in New York meets to confront a perplexing legal question. Most recently, it was to decide whether shooting somebody point-blank in the face and stabbing somebody to death are violent acts. A lower-court judge had decided that Scottโs convictions โ on manslaughter charges โ meant he had not been convicted of a violent crime. Thatโs because two laws at stake โ the Armed Career Criminal Act and the Career Offender Sentencing Guideline โ do not define a violent crime by what the defendant actually did. Circuit Judge Michael H. Park noted the โabsurdity of the exercise we have now completed.