US appeals court allows many New York restrictions on carrying guns
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[December 09, 2023]
By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that New York state
could bar gun owners from carrying weapons in "sensitive locations" like
parks, zoos, bars and theaters, but it blocked enforcement of new
restrictions on bringing firearms on private property open to the
public.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision marked the first time a
federal appeals court has ruled on where licensed gun owners can carry
firearms since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling last year
expanding gun rights.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, in a statement said
the three-judge panel's ruling would allow the state to continue to
enforce a majority of the provisions of its new gun-control law.
"My office will continue to defend New York’s gun laws and use every
tool to protect New Yorkers from senseless gun violence," she said in a
statement.
Gun rights groups hailed other parts of the court's ruling, which deemed
some parts of the law likely unconstitutional, including a provision
making a felony to carry a gun on private property open to the public
without the property owner's express consent.
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The court also blocked enforcement of a provision that required
applicants for concealed-carry permits to disclose their social media
accounts and ruled that it was likely unconstitutional for the state to
ban carrying firearms in places of worship.
The 261-page ruling stems from legal challenges by gun rights groups and
New York residents to the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which
Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law in July 2022.
The law was enacted after the Supreme Court that June struck down New
York's strict gun-permitting regime and declared for the first time that
the right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second
Amendment protects a person's right to carry a handgun in public for
self-defense.
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AR-15 style rifles are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun
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The ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen, also
set out a new test to assess the constitutionality of gun laws by
holding they must be "consistent with the nation's historical
tradition of firearm regulation."
New York's new law expanded who could seek a license to carry a
handgun outside the home, but required applicants to establish that
they possess "good moral character."
It also established a long list of "sensitive locations," including
churches, medical offices, public parks and theaters, where carrying
a gun would be a felony even for license holders. New York City's
popular Times Square is one of these locations.
Several New York gun owners and advocacy groups like the Firearms
Policy Coalition and Second Amendment Foundation sued, and a
lower-court judge declared much of the law unconstitutional, saying
it was inconsistent with the nation's historical laws.
But Friday's three-judge panel reversed those decisions with regard
to a majority of the restrictions, saying many of the provisions
were consistent with the country's history of regulating firearms in
crowded areas and public forums.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Marguerita Choy,
Alexia Garamfalvi and Leslie Adler)
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