Supreme Court still debating on hearing important gun case (VIDEO)

The U.S. Supreme Court has pushed a decision on a New Jersey case involving gun rights outside the home till Friday. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

A decision on hearing a long-standing gun case backed by the National Rifle Association, 19 states and 34 congressmen has been pushed back by the Supreme Court to Friday.

The case in question, Drake v Jerejian, involves John Drake, a New Jersey man who was denied a concealed carry permit back in 2012.

Drake, the owner of an ATM business, often carries large amounts of cash and applied for the permit so that he could carry a firearm for self-defense outside the home. 

Drake was denied the CCW permit under New Jersey’s strict ‘may-issue’ standard, which requires one to show a  “justifiable need” to carry a firearm. Believing his civil rights were violated, he subsequently filed a lawsuit.

Law Prof. Alan Gura, the council for Mr. Drake, advised Guns.com Monday that the case was delayed but is still in play, confirming earlier reports that the court hadn’t yet made a decision and would wait until April 25. 

“There isn’t a decision not to hear it,” explained the professor by email, “The petition was re-listed for this Friday’s conference.”

Drake had been expected to be heard by the nine justices in conference April 18, who would then either elect to hear it or decline it based on the case’s merits. However, when the court’s order list was posted on Monday, Drake wasn’t mentioned as being granted or denied. Instead, the decision was rescheduled.

With support from the Second Amendment Foundation, the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, 34 members of Congress and no fewer than 19 State Attorney Generals, the case is seen by many as being one of the best vehicles to address the issue of lawful gun use outside the home.

“If the current decision stands, states providing greater protections than New Jersey under the Second Amendment may be pre-empted by future federal action,” said Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, who backed his state’s support of the case.

Mead explained the reasoning behind Wyoming’s involvement in a New Jersey lawsuit, stating, “This decision out of New Jersey impacts the right to keep and bear arms outside the home. So I felt it was necessary to have the attorney general support a petition to the Supreme Court to hear this case.”

On the heels of the recent reversal by the U.S. 9th Court of Appeals in a similar “may-issue” denial of California resident Edward Peruta in February, the lower courts are divided on how use of a gun for self-defense is protected by the 2nd Amendment, setting the stage for the Supreme Court to make a decision on the matter.

Many hope that the high court opts to hear Drake, so that it can finally make a decision on whether the right to keep and bear arms really means what it quite literally says, one has the right to keep and bear (carry) arms.

We should know Friday.