The Supreme Court has upended the legal landscape on issues ranging from abortion to religious expression to administrative law ever since conservatives seized a six-vote supermajority following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The courts reversal and rewriting of precedent has sown confusion for state-level lawmakers trying to craft legislation in response to the needs of their constituents. In few areas has the conservative courts agenda caused more chaos than in gun law.

In June 2022, the court ruled in a 6-3 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that New Yorks law governing the issuance of concealed carry permits was unconstitutional. In doing so, the courts conservative justices, led by Justice Clarence Thomas, put forward a new standard that requires restrictions on gun ownership to be judged constitutional only if they are consistent with this Nations historical tradition of firearm regulation in the 18th and 19th centuries long before the development of modern guns.

The new historical test has produced a chaotic stream of lower court decisions as the judiciary tries to apply the standards of previous centuries to the laws of a modern world. In the past year, rulings have struck down bans on assault weapons, bans on gun-carrying in sensitive places, bans on gun ownership for people under 21 and, in the most egregious case, restrictions on gun ownership for persons under domestic violence protective orders.

For state legislators trying to respond to constituents concerns about rising rates of gun violence and mass shootings, this historical test and the subjective manner in which judges deploy it makes it difficult to determine which laws are constitutional and which ones are not.

No one really knows the direction of the Supreme Court rulings around firearm laws after the Bruen decision, said Bob Morgan, a Democratic state representative in Illinois.

Morgan is well aware of the precarious state of gun law at the moment. He was the chief sponsor of legislation signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, in January, banning the sale of semi-automatic long guns (colloquially called assault rifles) and high-capacity magazines.

Gun rights groups quickly filed suit to block the laws implementation, and the legal back-and-forth indicates the uncertainty around gun legislation: One federal district court judge declined to block the law, while another one issued an injunction to block it. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overrode the injunction, allowing the law to go into effect while it hears the case. The Supreme Court declined to get involved, and the appeals court decision stands until a final ruling.

The standard that the Bruen decision provided doesnt provide a lot of clarity, Morgan said.