The New York Police Department has implemented an emergency rule establishing new criteria for obtaining a concealed carry weapons license in the state, according to a Wednesday news release.
Although the new guidelines eliminate the ''proper cause'' standard, other rules have been put in place. Among them is ''a required in-person interview prior to receiving a handgun license.''
The state will also now require ''four character references and a list of current and former social media accounts from the last three years,'' completion of a gun safety course, and affirmation of notice for rifle, shotgun and handgun permit holders.
In addition, an exemption to pre-license courses available to those who use a gun for instructional purposes was eliminated.
New York's new temporary guidelines follow a ruling by the Supreme Court in June that declared the state's required statement of intent and proof of risk for handgun permit applicants unconstitutional.
"We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote of the law. "It is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense."
President Joe Biden condemned the decision at the time, calling it a contradiction of ''both common sense and the Constitution'' and stating that it ''should deeply trouble us all.''
''I urge states to continue to enact and enforce commonsense laws to make their citizens and communities safer from gun violence,'' Biden said.
''I call on Americans across the country to make their voices heard on gun safety. Lives are on the line,'' he added.
The high court's ruling came a month after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed. Shortly before that attack, an 18-year-old was charged with killing 10 people in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
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