The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York state law that had restricted who could obtain a permit to carry a gun in public. Under the law in place since 1913, New York residents needed to show proper cause, or an actual need, to carry a concealed handgun in public for self-defense.. The justices said that law conflicts with the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. It drew swift reaction from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who called the decision reckless and said she was prepared to call the Legislature back into session to form a response. “We do not need people entering our subways, our restaurants and movie theaters with concealed weapons,” she said. “We don’t need more guns on our streets.” New York and a half a dozen other states with similar laws now must decide their next steps. As with New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island all have legislatures controlled by Democrats who could propose measures to ensure that guns will not be allowed in certain places. Gun rights groups in those states have vowed to continue pushing back against what they view as restrictive gun control laws. Some of those cases eventually could make their way to the nation’s high court. A rundown of the similar laws in the other states, reaction to the Supreme Court ruling and what could happen next: CALIFORNIA The court’s ruling invalidated the “good cause” requirement in California’s permitting law, said the state’s attorney general and gun owners’ rights groups. Attorney General Rob Bonta said other aspects of California’s law remain untouched. Bonta and California lawmakers scrambled Thursday to amend pending legislation that lawmakers will consider next week, in hopes of quickly sending it to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Their changes include a requirement to assess a concealed carry applicant’s potential for danger by examining arrest records, criminal convictions and restraining orders. The state will require background checks, including with fingerprinting, as well as firearms training and a mental health assessment. Many of the precautions already are allowed under current law. It also will ban concealed weapons in certain sensitive areas such as parks, amusement parks and sporting venues. Gun owners’ advocates oppose the proposed changes and expect they may also be struck down by the courts. Bonta said the Supreme Court decision “has made it clear that states like California still have many venues to prevent senseless death and keep our families safe from gun violence, and we’re going to use those avenues in California.” Nearly two-thirds of California’s 58 counties already eased their standards for granting concealed weapons permits after a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the state’s concealed carry standard in 2014, said attorney Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association. Of California’s 58 counties, 37 already grant permits if an applicant requests it for self-defense. The other 21 counties have tighter standards, for example requiring applicants to demonstrate that they have business-related or professional risks that justify them being armed. The Supreme Court decision “not only affirms that laws prohibiting licensed public concealed carry of firearms for self-defense violates the Constitution, but also that courts have been applying the wrong approach to evaluating the constitutionality of gun control […]

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