Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan forced a lawyer who was arguing for Second Amendment rights to admit guns can be prohibited on the New York City subway system.
The confrontation came during oral arguments about a New York state law that makes it more difficult to obtain a concealed-carry permit.
Kagan questioned Paul Clement, a former solicitor general from Georgia W. Bush's presidency, who spoke in opposition to the law.
When it came to the question of guns on New York City subways, Clement declined to give a straight answer.
"You'd have to go through the analysis, I think," Clements said.
"No, I got the analysis," Kagan interrupted. "But how does it cash out? What does it mean?"
"I -- I don't know how those are going to cash out in particular cases," Clement insisted. "Because look at all the briefings we had on the history of these various things. And so, on behalf of my individual clients, I suppose I could give away the subway because, you know, they're not in Manhattan."
Kagan went on to ask Clement if guns could be restricted on the New York University campus.
"Well, NYU doesn't have much of a campus," Clement said, drawing laughter.
"I think you'll find that that's wrong," Kagan advised. "But you can say there are 50,000 people in one place. You know, a ballpark. There are 50,000 people in one place, they're all on top of each other. We don't want guns there. The city and state couldn't do that?"
"I think they might well be able to," Clement stuttered. "A lot of these stadiums are not run by the government anyway."
Watch the video below.
A fascinating exchange in today’s Supreme Court arguments over New York’s concealed carry restrictions. Justice Kagan asks Paul Clement whether the state could ban concealed carry on the subway and university campuses, or at stadiums and large protests. He refuses to answer. pic.twitter.com/kqsS8oLQHv
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) November 3, 2021
