Thread by @bopinion

It took New Zealand just 6 days to ban semi-automatic rifles after the mass shooting of 50 people last week.

What will it take for the U.S. to follow in its footsteps? bloom.bg/2FrXkXS

Despite what it may seem, these are glory days for the American gun-safety movement:

- 67 new gun-safety bills were signed into law
- A universal background check bill was passed in February
- Multiple inquiries into the NRA are under way in Congress bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

In just six years, @MomsDemand has grown into a formidable force:

- Millions of supporters
- 350,000 donors
- Networked activists in every state bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

New York State adopted aggressive laws to regulate firearms in January:

❎ Teachers aren't allowed to carry guns in schools
❎ Authorities can deny gun purchases
❎ Gun buyers who don’t pass an instant background check have an extended waiting period bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

But all that momentum may soon come crashing to a halt.

All it takes to turn back a robust gun-safety movement of millions is five willing justices. Or maybe just one: John Roberts bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

In fall, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over an obscure New York City law that regulates the transportation of guns.

It’s possible the court will use that opportunity to declare a sweeping constitutional right to carry a firearm outside the home bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

The Supreme Court has made seismic pronouncements on guns:

2008: The individual right to firearms
2010: States must recognize that right via the 14th Amendment
2019: ❓bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

Brett Kavanaugh appears to be a maximalist on gun rights. The other conservative justices appear likely to join him.

The main question concerns John Roberts, which makes him the key swing vote on this all-important issue bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

Judge Wilkinson has written the courts shouldn’t disrupt the political process:

“Disenfranchising the American people on this life & death subject would be the gravest and most serious of steps. It is their community...their safety...their lives” bloom.bg/2Fr19g6

The country has been moving decisively toward gun regulation, as a response both to mass shootings and to a gun culture that has grown unsteady and militant.

Will Roberts use a 5-4 decision of a bitterly divided court to stop it? bloom.bg/2Fr19g6