New York passes more restrictions on carrying a gun and does not move away from a "may issue" permitting system.

 

Various guns confiscated in New York. Reuters. 

New York has passed new restrictions on carrying a gun and does not move away from a "may issue" permitting system for carrying guns, despite the recent Supreme Court ruling. Reuters. The law had been sent to the Governor, Kathy Hochul, who is expected to sign it. The bill will essentially eliminate the ability to carry a gun in public places, with the following places being totally banned:

"The bill's list of sensitive places included: government buildings, medical facilities, places of worship, libraries, playgrounds, parks, zoos, schools, colleges, summer camps, addiction-support centers, homeless shelters, nursing homes, public transit including the New York City subway, places where alcohol or marijuana is consumed, museums, theaters, stadiums and other venues, polling places and Times Square."

In addition to the restrictions in those locations, carrying a gun into a business would be a felony if the business did not specifically put a sign up that would allow people to carry concealed. The Supreme Court did say in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen that there could be restrictions in "sensitive areas" 

The state has also not moved away from having permit seekers from having to show good cause for getting a permit. The core of Bruen was that states had to issue CCW permits on a "shall issue" basis, but New York is requiring a search of social media and interviews with the applicant and the people they live with. The bill requires that applicants have "good moral character" in order to get a firearms permit. Both aspects of the bill are expected to be challenged in light of Bruen. 

My Comment:

This appears to have been a deliberate end-run around the ruling in Bruen. That ruling said that states had to go to a "shall issue" permitting system but this seems like nothing close to that. The "good character" standard just seems to me to be another way of saying "may issue" as the permit could be declined by whatever arbitrary standard they choose. 

You can't tell me that political opposition to Democrats wouldn't be used as a primary factor in these social media searches either. I am sure that I would not pass this standard simply because I want Biden out of office and am a strong supporter of gun rights. Indeed, I don't know how many people would. My guess is that almost all applications would be denied on this basis. 

But if you somehow do get a permit under this system, what is the point? You basically can't carry it anywhere. Some of those locations are indeed sensitive areas, and though I disagree the Supreme Court said that they could have restrictions there. Things like schools and government offices will probably survive this standard. But all of Times Square? Every single business unless they put up a sign specifically saying you can carry? Essentially that means the only place you could carry is on the streets, which is better than pre-Bruen, but not by much. 

I don't think this will survive any judicial review. Some of it might, such as the requirement for an interview, but most of it should be tossed out. I can't see this as anything other than a middle finger to the Supreme Court and does not even really attempt to follow the standard they set in Bruen. The problem is that cases could take years to work their way through the courts and until then New Yorkers are still out of luck. 

It's sad though as the people this affects are the ones that need self defense the most. New York City isn't as bad as some major cities, but it does have higher crime rates and those folks are going to remain defenseless for the most part. About the only time New Yorkers are going to be able to defend themselves is if they are out for a walk on the street. They can't go almost anywhere else without their rights being restricted. 

I worry that this law will become an outline for other blue states to flagrantly ignore the Supreme Court's ruling in this case. Other blue states so far appear to be abiding by the ruling but I would not be surprised if they end up doing the same thing. I don't think any of these new laws would survive in the long term but in the short time the blue state gun owners are going to be screwed over again. 

Thankfully, I do think that the Supreme Court is going to be more aggressive in defending the 2nd Amendment. Bruen was a 6-3 ruling and even conservative in name only Justice Roberts actually voted with the conservative justices on this issue. If states keep crafting terrible laws like this they will keep getting overturned in the foreseeable future.