Supreme Court Allows NY To Enforce Controversial Concealed Carry Regulation

Democratic-led New York has long been one of the most restrictive states for would-be gun owners, and a series of recent laws have only made it more difficult for citizens to legally carry firearms.

Last year, state lawmakers approved the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which included a list of various public spaces — identified as “sensitive locations” in the legislation — where even those with a permit to carry a concealed weapon may not exercise their Second Amendment rights.

That law was itself a response to an earlier U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a regulation requiring New Yorkers to demonstrate that they had a specific need to carry a weapon before they could receive a permit to do so.

Although the nation’s highest court ruled against New York on that matter, justices declined to block the Concealed Carry Improvement Act. The Supreme Court weighed in after a judge at the district court level issued an injunction, which an appeals court later overruled.

Instead of reimposing the injunction, Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas determined that the appeals court had “issued unreasoned summary stay orders, but in those cases, it has ordered expedited briefing.”

The justices advised plaintiffs in the case to revisit their complaint if the appeals court “does not, within a reasonable time, provide an explanation for its stay order or expedite consideration of the appeal.”

That was not good enough for critics of the New York law, including U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY).

The lawmaker reacted to the ruling with a statement expressing her disappointment. In reference to last year’s decision shutting down the earlier restriction on concealed carry permit holders, Tenney asserted: “The Supreme Court must intervene like they did in NYSRPA v. Bruen.”

President Joe Biden, who has frequently waded into the gun control debate during his first two years in office, denounced the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the requirement that New Yorkers demonstrate a compelling reason for seeking a permit.

“For centuries, states have regulated who may purchase or possess weapons, the types of weapons they may use, and the places they may carry those weapons,” Biden claimed at the time. “And the courts have upheld these regulations.”