Tests lie ahead for NY's new gun-carry process
The new state law bars carrying guns in some public zones, with law-enforcement exceptions. Credit: AP/Bebeto Matthews
County by county, across New York State, more than a few residents scrambled this week to meet a unique deadline.
They were determined to get their gun-permit applications submitted to the appropriate local offices before Thursday, when a new law took effect that sets new training and character standards for their approval. Some people in Niagara County reportedly camped out overnight to keep their places in line.
Now the deadline has passed and the permit-seeking groups have dispersed. But this process is far from settled. Changes in New York's methods of gun control seem to remain in a somewhat fluid state. “Carry” permits will continue to be wrangled over at different levels, undoubtedly with litigation ahead.
Gun-rights advocates see the new rules as a deliberate obstacle to freedom. Gun-control defenders call them the result of a new and difficult burden imposed on states by the nation’s judicial branch.
On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court, ditching precedent and expanding on the Second Amendment, struck down New York’s requirement that pistol permit-seekers show proper cause or actual need to carry concealed weapons. In doing so, the court’s 6-3 majority tossed out a century-old New York law sensibly aimed at limiting people packing heat in densely populated places.
Any licensed firearms dealer or trainer in Nassau or Suffolk county can tell you about the new demand for permits and training that quickly spiked with this ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.
Reacting with unusual speed, the State Legislature in Albany, where the Bruen ruling had been anticipated for some time, enacted a new permit system that requires 16 hours of class training and character references — as well as the submission of former and current social media accounts.
Checking social media in a license investigation adds an intriguing new edge. Proponents say it is aimed at weeding out hate-group members and those who issue threats.
On Wednesday, a judge in the U.S. Northern District Court of New York denied a motion by the Gun Owners of America to enjoin the new carry law from taking effect. State Attorney General Letitia James, up for reelection in November, declared victory for now in a news release. But the ruling was mainly on procedural grounds, and the issue could still make its way back up the federal-court ladder.
The state's new carry law also marks one of the flash points in the election season's main event — the race between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger, Rep. Lee Zeldin. Hochul, who signed the legislation July 2, touted it again on Thursday. Previously, Zeldin signed onto an amicus brief in support of the pistol association's case before the Supreme Court and hailed the June decision as upholding the rights of law-abiding citizens.
None of which affects the vexing complications of what's now on the books. The new law bars carrying guns in some public zones, with law-enforcement exceptions. One such zone is Times Square, but just what does that proscribe? A City Council bill advanced this week describes the area as 34 city blocks in the heart of Manhattan, applying only outdoors.
As the details of this big change develop, bureaucrats will bureaucrat, litigators will litigate, and politicians will politick.
Did you expect a mellow, quick, and clear transition to a simple gun-permit process? Remember: This is New York, for better and worse.
Administrative thickets are us.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
