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| Photo Credit: AP. |
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s latest attempt to restrict who can carry a handgun in public and where firearms can be brought was picked apart Thursday by a federal judge, who ruled that multiple provisions in a state law passed this year are unconstitutional.
In a ruling
that doesn’t take effect immediately, U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby struck
down key elements of the state’s hurried attempt to rewrite its handgun laws
after the old ones were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
The state
can’t ban people from carrying guns in New York City’s subway system or Times
Square, the judge ruled, though he said it did have a right to exclude guns
from certain other locations, including schools.
Several of
the state’s new licensing rules went too far, he wrote, including one that
required applicants to be of “good moral character,” and another that made
applicants turn over information about their social media accounts.
The end
result was a licensing scheme that prohibited people from carrying a handgun
for self-defense unless the applicant could persuade licensing officials that
they wouldn’t use it to hurt themselves or others, the judge wrote.
“Simply
stated, instead of moving toward becoming a shall-issue jurisdiction, New York
State has further entrenched itself as a shall-not-issue jurisdiction. And, by
doing so, it has further reduced a first-class constitutional right to bear
arms in public for self defense ... into a mere request,” wrote Suddaby, who
sits in Syracuse.
Suddaby, an
appointee of former President George W. Bush, put his decision on hold for
three days to allow the state to challenge it in a higher court.
New York
Attorney General Letitia James’s office filed an appeal later Thursday.
“Today’s
decision comes in the wake of mass shootings and rampant gun violence hurting
communities here in New York and across the country. While the decision
preserves portions of the law, we believe the entire law must be preserved as
enacted,” said James, a Democrat.
Legislators
rewrote the state’s handgun laws this summer after a Supreme Court ruling
invalidated New York’s old system for granting permits to carry handguns
outside the home. The high court struck down the state’s longstanding
requirement that people demonstrate an unusual threat to their safety to
qualify for such a license.
The new law,
which went into effect Sept. 1, broadly expanded who could get a handgun
license, but it increased training requirements for applicants and required
them to turn over more private information, including a list of everyone living
in their home. The state also created a long list of places where firearms
would be banned.
Suddaby’s
ruling upheld the state’s right to exclude guns from certain “sensitive
locations,” but only in instances where there were “historical analogues” for
such rules, meaning guns have been banned from such places in the past.
Rules
prohibiting most people from carrying guns into schools, government buildings,
polling places and places of worship were OK, the judge wrote. But the state
couldn’t put new bans on people from carrying handguns on public transportation
systems, in summer camps or places where alcohol is consumed.
Suddaby also
dealt a blow to a provision prohibiting people from bringing guns onto someone
else’s property unless the owners give permission — by posting a sign in a shop
window, for instance.
Gov. Kathy
Hochul, also a Democrat, defended the state’s laws as “common-sense
restrictions.”
“While this
decision leaves aspects of the law in place, it is deeply disappointing that
the Judge wants to limit my ability to keep New Yorkers safe and to prevent
more senseless gun violence,” Hochul said.
There have
been several federal challenges to the new law from gun rights advocates who
argue the legislation violates the Second Amendment and free speech rights.
This lawsuit
was bought by six gun owners from upstate New York who claim the law infringes
on their constitutional rights. Most of the plaintiffs have licenses to carry
and argue the law keeps them from holding a weapon in designated sensitive places
like state parks or church.
One
plaintiff intends to apply for a carry permit but is unwilling to share social
media posts or character references with investigators, according to the
federal complaint.
Suddaby
telegraphed his ruling five weeks ago when he threw out a previous challenge to
the law on technical grounds. The plaintiff in that case then teamed up with
five other gun owners and sued again, expanding the list of defendants to
include state district attorneys and sheriffs who were charged with enforcing
the law.
New York is among
a half-dozen states that had provisions of their gun laws invalidated by the
Supreme Court.
Associated
Press writers Michael R. Sisak and David B. Caruso contributed from New York
City.