New York's New Gun Laws
Hello again, folks. I had a lovely time downshifting in August, including a week at the beach and a road trip with my family. Now we’re falling back into our routines for September, and I’m happy to be back to these missives.
The new month also brought new laws about gun possession in New York. They were enacted by Democratic lawmakers after May’s mass-shooting in Buffalo and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the state’s concealed weapons permitting regime.
"The Supreme Court is taking dead aim at the safety of New Yorkers," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said during an August 31 press conference. "They've placed us in the line of fire, and we must respond accordingly."
Thousands of people rushed to apply for permits before new requirements for in-person training and a review of social-media accounts took effect on Sept. 1, I wrote in The Wall Street Journal. The number of people getting fingerprinted for background checks associated with pistol permits in the state nearly tripled from the previous year for the first weeks of August 2021, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
“We’re trying to get it while we still can, short of moving out of New York state,” said Andrea Fitchlee, who spent six hours waiting in line to get a permit in Niagara County.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the new law eight days after the U.S. Supreme Court in June invalidated the state’s prior permitting rules, which required that applicants demonstrate “proper cause” and “good moral character.” The court ruled that local officials had too much discretion to deny permits, in violation of the Second Amendment.
The new law requires 16 hours of in-person training, including two hours of live-fire drills. People must disclose all social-media accounts used in the past three years, which will be reviewed by investigators who must determine whether an applicant has “the essential character, temperament and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself or others.”
The law also prohibits the possession of weapons in a list of “sensitive places,” which include parks, day-care centers, government buildings and Manhattan’s Times Square. There are several lawsuits challenging aspects of the law, including one filed by the Gun Owners of America, a gun-rights advocacy group.
In the last week of August, U.S. District Court Judge Glenn Suddaby said the plaintiffs didn’t have standing and rejected their bid to stop the requirements from taking effect. But he also called the new law an “unconstitutional statute” and said its definition of sensitive places is “almost limitless.” This includes a definition of Times Square that stretches from Bryant Park to Ninth Avenue, from 40th to 53rd Street.
Signs have sprung up at public buildings and in some businesses, which are presumed to prohibit firearms unless they explicitly state that concealed weapons are welcome. In Albany County, Sheriff Craig Apple said he’s instructed his office to lean on education over arrests if someone is not intentionally breaking the law, the Albany Times Union reported.
“It’s just mass confusion,” he said.
THE QUESTION: I recently toured the U.S. Capitol, where every state gets to send two statues. (Jefferson Davis is still there, thanks to Mississippi.) Which statues were sent by New York?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: I’m still interested to hear how your public transit usage has changed. Thanks to all those who responded – keep ‘em coming!