The 6–3 majority decision, announced Thursday, of the US Supreme Court in the case New York State Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Bruen properly affirms the Constitutional right of individual self-defense without pre-emptive “by-your-leave“ requirements on the part of State or law enforcement agencies.

A law-abiding citizen, not guilty of felonies or having a history of mental illness, has a basic right to self-defense which does not stop at his doorstep. As the justices rightly point out, no other Constitutional right is subject to petitioning some State agency on a “special need” basis. This is a long overdue correction.

It is idle to complain, as some do, that the Founders could not foresee all future exigencies.

That is very true. That is why they established a representative framework under which the Constitution could be amended. So far, the 2nd Amendment stands. Those who loudly proclaim the need for “common-sense” gun-control legislation have been remarkably unsuccessful in persuading the rest of us to repeal or even curtail it. Until they do, it stands as one of our foundational freedoms.

— Robert Fitzgibbon, Rome