NEW YORK (AP) — Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor warns against a rush to judgment in a New York gun ownership dispute, citing the recent killings of 20 Connecticut schoolchildren and six educators.
Sitting on a federal appeals panel, O'Connor cited the massacre in commenting on the role courts play in interpreting gun control laws. The panel is considering the federal rights of a man who was denied a New York gun permit after he moved his primary residence from New York to Louisiana.
She said that before making a decision, the federal court wants to hear from the New York Court of Appeals on whether state law allows part-time residents to get a gun permit.
O'Connor said recent events "are a sad reminder that firearms are dangerous in the wrong hands."
