People cross the Brooklyn Bridge as they attend the March for Our Lives rally, one of a series of nationwide protests against gun violence in New York City, USA, June 11, 2022. ERIC COX REUTERS A federal judge has blocked New York from allowing the carrying of guns on private property under a Democratic law adopted by the US Supreme Court in June, which struck down the state's strict gun permitting regime.
Property owners have the right to exclude. The state may not exercise that right unilaterally and interfere with the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who seek to carry for self-defense outside their own homes.
A provision in the law that made it a felony to possess a firearm on private property unless the property owner allows it with a sign or gives express consent was struck by US District Judge John Sinatra in Buffalo Tuesday.
The provision was found to be in violation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, as a result of the election by Republican former President Donald Trump. ALSO READ: Biden signs a gun safety bill into law, takes a swipe at the Supreme Court.
The ruling was the latest courtroom victory for gun owners challenging New York's law, called the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which made obtaining a firearms license more difficult and barred from a long list of sensitive public and private places. A federal appeals court has put on hold a decision by another judge that blocked key parts of the law, including bars on people from carrying concealed weapons in sensitive locations. Sinatra ruled in a lawsuit brought by two firearms owners and two gun rights groups. The Firearms Policy Coalition, one of those groups, called the ruling a monumental step toward restoring the gun rights of New Yorkers.
Sinatra said the provision was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court'sSupreme Court's precedents, including June's ruling.
Sinatra wrote that property owners have the right to exclude. The state may not exercise that right unilaterally, thereby affecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who seek to carry for self-defense outside their own homes. In a court filing, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said it would appeal.