A district judge recently ruled that a New York law banning licensed gun owners from carrying concealed weapons on private property accessible to the public without the express consent of the property owner was unconstitutional.
Newsmax reported that U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. ruled against New York’s law on Thursday, dealing a major blow to the gun control policies pushed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) and the Democrat-led New York State Assembly.
According to Newsmax, the gun control legislation was pushed by the governor following the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling that struck down the state’s requirement for New York residents to prove they were in need of self-defense in order to obtain a concealed carry permit. However, Sinatra determined that the state’s ban on licensed gun owners carrying concealed weapons on private property with public access without the property owner’s express consent was unconstitutional.
In Thursday’s ruling, Sinatra wrote, “Regulation in this area is permissible only if the government demonstrates that the new enactment is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of sufficiently analogous regulations. New York fails that test here.”
Sinatra added, “Indeed, property owners have the right to exclude. But the state may not unilaterally exercise that right and, thereby, interfere with the long-established Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who seek to carry for self-defense on private property open to the public.”
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The case was brought by Brett Christian, a private citizen, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the second Amendment Foundation, according to Newsmax. Court documents obtained by the outlet show that Christian, who is a licensed gun owner, challenged the state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act by arguing that it prevented him from carrying a gun and being able to defend himself.
In a news release, Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, said the organization was “delighted” with Sinatra’s ruling. Gottlieb said New York State “anti-gunners” were once again “held in check” by a judge who understood that the Second Amendment is “not a second-class right.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) also released a statement, celebrating a “win for New Yorkers’ Second Amendment rights” despite attempts by Hochul and other state Democrats to “target law-abiding New York gun owners.” Stefanik claimed that while state Democrats “refuse to follow the Constitution,” she “will always fight for the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding New Yorkers.”
