Thursday, on his 74th birthday, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas gave presents to the American people.

In a precedent-setting ruling issued Thursday morning, the court ruled, by a vote of 6-3, that a New York statute requiring “good cause” to carry a concealed firearm was unconstitutional.

Thomas penned the majority judgment in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen and was clear about what the ruling meant for the interpretation of the “right to keep and bear arms” provision of the Second Amendment.

As Thomas said in the majority decision, the ruling indicated unequivocally “that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”

Later in the ruling, he said that the court finds “that when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.”

Thomas argued that the Second Amendment should not be treated differently than any other constitutionally given right.

“The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not ‘a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees,’ Thomas said, citing the 2010 McDonald opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, which was another landmark victory for gun rights.

More on this story via The Western Journal:

“The exercise of other constitutional rights does not require individuals to demonstrate to government officers some special need. The Second Amendment right to carry arms in public for self-defense is no different,” Thomas wrote.

Soon after word of the decision spread, people began noticing something unique about Justice Thomas. The decision was handed down on his birthday — how unexpected is that? Read more…