New York state can enforce many gun restrictions, US appeals court rules

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal appeals court upheld large portions of an expansive New York state gun control law on Thursday, saying the state can ban people from carrying weapons in "sensitive" locations such as schools, parks, theaters, bars and Times Square.

In a 246-page decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan also let licensing officials prevent people they consider dangerous from using guns in public, by requiring gun applicants to show they have "good moral character."

But the three-judge panel also rejected parts of the 2022 law, including a gun ban on private properties that are normally open to the public, such as gas stations and supermarkets.

The panel had ruled the same way in December, but revisited the matter after the U.S. Supreme Court - in a different case - clarified the constitutional protections afforded to gun owners.

"The overall message of this case is that the careful, thoughtful, public safety driven law in New York is consistent with the 2nd Amendment," said David Pucino, legal director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, in an interview.

Lawyers for gun owners who challenged the law had no immediate comment.

"This decision is another victory in our effort to protect all New Yorkers from the scourge of gun violence," New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said in a statement. "Commonsense gun safety legislation helps protect New Yorkers."

Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed the law passed by the state's Democratic-controlled legislature on July 1, 2022.

The signing came one week after the Supreme Court struck down a different, more than century-old state law restricting the carrying of guns outside the home.

That decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen, was a landmark that expanded Americans' 2nd Amendment rights to arm themselves in public. It also required courts to look for historical analogues to justify new gun restrictions.

FRUSTRATION AND PRAISE

In June, however, the Supreme Court limited the Bruen decision by upholding a federal ban on gun ownership by people subject to restraining orders for domestic violence.

The Supreme Court then ordered the Manhattan appeals court to review the 2022 New York law in light of that decision, U.S. v. Rahimi.

In Thursday's decision, the appeals court said the Supreme Court analysis in the Rahimi case "supports our prior conclusions."

Erich Pratt, senior vice president at Gun Owners of America, whose California affiliate was involved in the case, in a statement called the decision "incredibly frustrating" and a "slap in the face" to the Supreme Court and New York gun owners.

"We will continue the fight against Governor Hochul and anti-gun legislators in Albany until New Yorkers can finally carry for self-defense without infringement," he said.

Eric Tirschwell, chief litigation counsel for Everytown for Gun Safety, in a statement said the decision confirms that gun rights' advocates' "reckless efforts to dismantle public safety measures" are inconsistent with Supreme Court precedents.

The appeals court returned the case to U.S. District Judge Glenn Suddaby in Syracuse, New York, who blocked much of the New York law in October 2022.

The case is Antonyuk et al v James et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 22-2908, 22-2972.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Bill Berkrot, Frances Kerry, Marguerita Choy and Diane Craft)