Gun Owners of America (GOA) has petitioned for a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to review the decision of the United States Second Circuit of Appeals in a decision that allowed many provisions of the New York State’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) to stand.
The CCIA was passed shortly after the landmark SCOTUS decision in New York Rifle Pistol Association v. Bruen. The Bruen opinion knocked down New York State’s “may issue” concealed carry law. The decision declared that the Second Amendment covers the right to bear arms outside the home. It also stated that any law regulating firearms must be consistent with the original text, tradition, and history of the Second Amendment.
New York State quickly passed the CCIA, which levied many new restrictions on the right to carry a firearm. This new law was a direct response to the Bruen decision. The original law made most of the state a “sensitive area,” meaning firearms would be banned from those locations. New York also added a “good moral character” clause, allowing the state to deny permits.
In addition to being of “good moral character,” the CCIA requires applicants to be interviewed by police. These appointments take months and slow the process of getting a concealed carry permit to a crawl. In addition to the in-person interview, the applicant must provide four character references and turn over social media posts.
New York also increased the training requirements for a concealed carry permit from four to 18 hours. This expansion of required training made getting a concealed carry permit extremely expensive and time-consuming. Many think this move was to discourage residents from seeking a carry permit.
Because of the new law that seemed to thumb its nose at the Bruen decision, GOA and several other plaintiffs, including the named plaintiff, Ivan Antonyuk, decided to sue New York in the case Antonyuk v. Hochul, hoping to block the law from being enforced.
A Federal District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the CCIA. The state would ask the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the injunction until the higher court could hear the case. The Second Circuit agreed to issue a stay on the District Court’s decision until it could hear the arguments.
A three-judge panel from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals would eventually hear the case and uphold part of the injunction against things like requiring applicants to turn over social media posts. Still, it would knock down the injunction on several key provisions, such as the training and character references.
GOA could have asked for an en banc hearing where the full Second Circuit would hear the case, vacating the panel’s decision, but with the court’s makeup, that seemed to be a dead end. GOA instead would petition the Supreme Court to hear the case, claiming that the decision is a direct assault on the Bruen decision.
“New York politicians just couldn’t help themselves when they quickly doubled down with their unconstitutional edicts following the Bruen decision,” Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of GOA, said, “I’m incredibly confident the justices will take an extra close look at this case since their previous ruling was ignored by the insubordinate tyrants in Albany. We’re excited about the opportunity to serve Kathy Hochul and her cabal another plate of humble pie if the Court takes the case.”
SCOTUS has no timeline to decide whether to take up the case.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
