Stephen Gutowski of the Washington Free Beacon explores the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to move ahead with a gun-control case from New York City.

The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would not dismiss a gun rights case against New York City, rejecting the city’s request.

“The Respondents’ Suggestion of Mootness is denied,” the Court wrote in its order list. “The question of mootness will be subject to further consideration at oral argument, and the parties should be prepared to discuss it.”

The city’s request followed its abrupt decision to change a restrictive gun-control law only after SCOTUS accepted the case against it. The effort to loosen the transportation law, quietly supported by major gun control groups, was designed to subdue, or “moot,” the complaint at the core of the case.

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York is the first substantial gun case the Supreme Court has taken in nearly a decade. It is also the first to explicitly deal with gun rights outside of the home. …

… The city’s about-face on the importance of the restrictions and their constitutionality came as gun control activists have attempted to avoid new Supreme Court scrutiny of gun laws. In addition to Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords quietly lobbying on behalf of loosening the entire state’s gun transportation law, gun control activists also publicly called on the city to change its laws in an effort to avoid a SCOTUS hearing.