Last week, a federal judge ruled that a New York law banning licensed firearm owners from carrying concealed weapons on private property without explicit permission from the owner violates the Second Amendment. The law, enacted in 2022 as part of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), required property owners to post signs or give express consent to allow firearms on their premises.
The CCIA was signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul following a Supreme Court decision that struck down previous concealed carry requirements in the state as unconstitutional. Last winter, a US Court of Appeals blocked several provisions of the CCIA but upheld a requirement that concealed carry permit applicants demonstrate good moral character and disclose household and family members on their applications. The court also permitted a ban on carrying firearms in designated “sensitive places” like theaters, bars, and public parks, according to Fox News.
However, US District Court Judge John Sinatra, Jr. ruled that New York’s restriction on carrying firearms on private property open to the public is unconstitutional.
“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,” Sinatra stated, referencing the precedent set by the Supreme Court’s ruling and determining that New York failed to meet that standard.
In addition to striking down this portion of the law, the judge denied the state’s request for a two-week stay while New York’s Attorney General’s office prepares to appeal. Sinatra noted it was unlikely that the state would succeed in overturning the decision.
While Judge Sinatra acknowledged that property owners have the right to prohibit firearms on their property, he emphasized that “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.”
Gun rights advocates welcomed the ruling. Brandon Combs, president of the Second Amendment advocacy group Firearms Policy Coalition, called it “yet another important victory for Second Amendment rights and another major loss for New York, authoritarian governments, and radical anti-rights organizations like Everytown and Giffords.”
“We will continue to fight forward as we work to restore the full scope of the right to keep and bear arms throughout the United States. Hopefully Kathy Hochul is ready to write another check for legal fees,” Combs added.
