It was only a decade ago that the Supreme Court first ruled that the Second Amendment protected the right of an individual to own a gun. Ever since, the justices have declined to take new gun rights cases. Dozens of lower federal courts have applied the new doctrine and largely upheld gun safety rules. But with Brett Kavanaugh joining the court, it agreed to hear a challenge to a quirky New York City ban on transporting licensed handguns outside city limits. Argument yesterday mostly focused on whether the case was moot, since the rule in question was repealed. But some justices may seek to rule on bigger questions. “The Supreme Court could reject the mainstream approach for deciding Second Amendment questions in favor of a more radical test focused solely on ‘text, history, and tradition’ and without consideration of contemporary realities of guns and gun violence,” write law professors Joseph Blocher and Eric Ruben, the latter a fellow with the Brennan Center. “That would be a mistake.”