In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision striking down the state’s 100-year "may issue" concealed carry law, requiring applicants to demonstrate a subjective special need to obtain a carry permit, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., signed a new bill into law that’s even more subjective and more restrictive.
It requires applicants to prove "good moral character" by releasing their social media accounts, and it turns virtually all of New York into a gun free zone.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) filed a federal lawsuit July 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, naming State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen as defendant.
Sam Paredes, a GOA board member, appeared on Newsmax TV’s "American Agenda," July 14 to discuss their lawsuit.
"The lawsuit was filed because the Supreme Court absolutely directed lower courts and governments to the fact that they can no longer use subjective procedures in order to issue concealed weapons permits across the country," he told host Katrina Szish.
Other national gun rights organizations agree that the new concealed carry law is, if anything, worse than the one the Supreme Court struck down in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.
"They’re doing everything they can to get around this Supreme Court ruling striking the previous law," Alan Gottlieb, president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), told Newsmax.
"It’s like a dog with a bone that just won’t give it up," he added. "They’ve gone way overboard, and there’s a significant number of things they’ve done that we believe are challengeable in court and that they’re going to lose on again.
Darin Goens, National Rifle Association (NRA) New York state director also weighed in.
"The Supreme Court struck down New York's elitist system where only the wealthy or connected were afforded permits to defend themselves and their families outside their homes," he told Newsmax.
"Clearly, Kathy Hochul believes self-defense is a privilege for only the wealthy and connected."
The new law provides that in order to obtain a concealed carry permit, applicants must possess “essential character, temperament and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself or others."
But substituting the "special need" requirement in New York’s previous law with "good moral character" in the new one merely replaces one subjective requirement with another.
"The 'good cause' provision was declared unconstitutional," Paredes said.
"What New York has done . . . is shifted the ‘good cause’ subjectivity to something they now call 'good moral character.' That is a completely subjective provision, and the law will be declared unconstitutional."
Gottlieb observed that the new requirement may bring other constitutional violations into play. Opening up an applicant’s social media activity "is extremely intrusive to the people’s First Amendment rights of freedom of association and speech," he said.
The new law’s "sensitive locations" provision is even more restrictive.
It prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm in a laundry list of locations.
They include: government property, most health care facilities, places of worship, libraries, public parks including zoos, preschools, summer camps, educational institutions, mass transit hubs, anywhere where alcohol is consumed, theaters, concert venues, sporting arenas, casinos, polling places, public areas being used for special events, protests, and specifically mentions Times Square.
Violators of this provision, even if they possess a carry permit, could be charged with criminal possession of a firearm.
Gottlieb reasoned that "giving the people a license to carry but if they cross the street they get arrested is totally absurd, and it creates a chilling effect on people not to get a permit."
As a result, the “sensitive areas” negates the reason to carry — self-protection from criminals who ignores such gun-free zones.
The NRA’s Goens noted another absurdity that New York’s new law creates.
"The deadly irony is that while Hochul and her allies deny law-abiding citizens of their right to self-defense with social media background checks, irrational no carry zones, and background checks for ammunition, their preposterous support of no cash bail, and policies that coddle criminals is having a deadly effect on New York streets," he said.
Other provisions in the new concealed carry law include:
- An interview with the licensing agency
- Proof of 16 hours of firearm safety training
- Firearm storage requirements
- Expands on the list of previous convictions preventing an applicant from obtaining a license to include misdemeanors — even DUI offenses
Former Congressman Michael Grimm, who represented New York’s 13th, then 11th congressional districts, summed up what it all came down to:
"This is arrogance," he told Newsmax TV’s Szish. "This is typical liberal arrogance — their defiance. Because they don't like the ruling, well then we're going to ignore it.
"That's their attitude with everything."
He added, "We don't have a gun problem in America. We have a violence problem. And all of these ridiculous rules are not going to change that."
States like New York are openly thumbing their nose at the Supreme Court.
The question is, how many more lawsuits will it take before they finally understand the need for the Second Amendment.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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