ALBANY, N.Y. (HPD) — A federal judge on Thursday froze key provisions of New York’s latest attempt to restrict who can carry a firearm in public and where they can carry it, saying multiple parties of the law the state passed this year are unconstitutional.
US District Judge Glenn Suddaby focused on various parts of the legislation. He concluded that gun license requirements — such as a rule requiring applicants to provide information about their social media accounts — went too far.
“Simply put, instead of becoming a mandatory issuance jurisdiction, New York State has further entrenched itself as a non-issuance jurisdiction. And, in doing so, he has further reduced the first-rank constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense…to a mere request,” Suddaby, who has his office in Syracuse, wrote.
The ruling would uphold existing restrictions that prevent firearms from entering schools, government buildings and places of worship, but the judge said the state could not prohibit the carrying of such weapons in other sensitive places, such as Times Square, a site New York City landmark.
The judge gave the state three business days to request an exemption from a federal appeals court.
The rules are part of a sweeping gun control law that went into effect Sept. 1, aimed at protecting public safety while upholding a US Supreme Court ruling that invalidated New York’s long-standing system of awarding guns. permits to carry firearms outside the home.
The new law increased the training requirements for applicants and requires them to provide more private information, including a list of everyone who lives in your household. Suddaby said the law’s requirement that a license applicant have “good moral character” is unconstitutional, as currently drafted.