Can New Yorkers carry guns? A 700 year-old law may inform Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision

WASHINGTON – When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Wednesday in a closely watched guns case, the discussion won’t start with the last landmark ruling on firearms from 2010, or even with the ratification of the Second Amendment in 1791.

Instead, attorneys on both sides will likely reach back to a 700-year-old English law – and a debate over the influence it had on the framing of the Constitution.

At issue for the high court is whether New York can require residents to have a good reason to obtain a license to carry a handgun – a question with ramifications for gun laws nationwide. To find an answer, the justices are expected to look closely at the "history and tradition" of the right to bear arms, including before the nation’s founding.