New York Lawmakers Set to Blunt Impact of Supreme Court Concealed-Carry Ruling

The New York state legislature is poised to pass legislation that would blunt the impact of a recent Supreme Court ruling striking down the state’s century-old concealed-carry restriction.

Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul called the legislature back into session Thursday to address the Supreme Court’s ruling, and the vote is expected to take place Friday, according to Politico.

The bill would designate certain “sensitive locations” such as subway stations, parks, and schools off-limits to concealed-carriers; strengthen certain permit requirements; require a permit for the purchasing of ammunition; and mandate certain safe-storage practices.

“This is dealing with the fact that the Supreme Court less than a week ago turned our world upside down,” Hochul said at news conference on Wednesday. “And now it says that there’s going to be a much higher number of people walking our streets, going on the subway, sitting next to someone on a bus unless we take action to protect our citizens.”

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 23 that New York’s law, in place since 1913, violated the Second Amendment. The “proper-cause” requirement had mandated that New Yorkers demonstrate a specific need to carry beyond general self-defense concerns.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, stating the “proper cause” requirement “violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.”

In 2018, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch had applied for conceal carry licenses, but were denied on account of not having “proper cause.” They were given “restricted” licenses for hunting, and filed, along with the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, to challenge the state’s ruling.

Hochul criticized the Court’s ruling, writing on Twitter, “it is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons.”

Pressed on her justification for the new legislation during Wednesday’s press conference, Hochul admitted that she didn’t have access to any data which suggests that restrictions on concealed-carry would reduce gun crime.