New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is asking the Supreme Court to allow the state’s new law that places restrictions on carrying concealed firearms to remain in place while legal challenges unfold in court.
James’ request came after an attorney for a gun owner challenging the new state law asked the justices to step in last month. The dispute also marks the first time the high court has been tapped to consider a Second Amendment-related case on an emergency basis since a June 23 opinion that struck down the Empire State’s previous concealed carry regime and expanded gun rights across the country.
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“This Court is unlikely to grant review because this case’s interlocutory posture renders the resolution of any Second Amendment question premature. This Court’s ordinary practice is to deny interlocutory review even when a case presents a significant statutory or constitutional question,” the filing from James states.
New York’s “Concealed Carry Improvement Act” was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in July after she convened a special session in response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas, which struck down a 108-year-old law that limited who can obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
The CCIA created new requirements for people seeking concealed carry permits, background checks for private gun sales, and also bans guns in certain “sensitive locations” such as parks, hospitals, and mass transit hubs. The law also requires license applicants to show a “good moral character” and provide officials with a list of social media accounts subject to inspection.
Last fall, a district court blocked most of the CCIA from being enforced, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit later put the decision on hold and allowed the state to continue enforcing it as the dispute made it through the appeals process. The appeals court has asked for opening briefs on the matter to be due on Jan. 9.
Another group of firearms dealers joined the gun owner this week in asking the Supreme Court to rule against New York’s latest crackdown on firearms as unconstitutional.
“The Second Amendment is the new civil right kid on the block,” Paloma Capanna, a lawyer representing the firearm dealers, wrote in their application. “The Second Amendment is the modern civil rights movement. An attack on any one civil right and through such unacceptable methods must be called out, if all are to endure — no matter one’s own ‘political preferences’ or ‘whether society finds the idea itself offensive of disagreeable.’”
The justices are not considering the merits of the case but only whether to lift the appeals court order pending appeal.
James said the district court’s opinion was “riddled with errors” and urged the justices to stay out of the dispute, adding that the appeals court had expedited consideration of the new law and that “further percolation of the relevant issues in the lower court is needed to inform” the high court’s review.
The gun owners are asking Justice Sotomayor to block laws targeting guns and ammunition distributors and are requesting blocks on regulations such as concealed-carry permit training, new semiautomatic rifle licenses, and new ammunition background checks.
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“Hochul ordered by ‘Proclamation’ the legislature return for extraordinary session, and pushed them, literally into the dark of night, to pass NY S.51001, so that she could, in the light of the next day, perform for the media,” Capanna wrote.
Capanna said Hochul attacked the Supreme Court’s authority and asserted “legal superiority as state governor over the authority of this federal Court, and vowing revenge for this Court’s decisions of June 23, 2022 in NYSRPA v. Bruen.”
