U.S. Supreme Court strikes down New York limits on concealed handguns

By Andrew Chung

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional New York state's limits on carrying concealed handguns in public, handing a landmark victory to gun rights advocates in a nation deeply divided over how to address firearms violence.

The 6-3 ruling, with the court's conservative justices in the majority and liberal justices in dissent, found that the state's law, enacted in 1913, violated a person's right to "keep and bear arms" under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.

The justices overturned a lower court ruling throwing out a challenge to the law by two gun owners and the New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association, an influential gun rights group closely aligned with Republicans. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)