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NEW YORK (AP) — New York can continue to enforce laws banning firearms in sensitive locations and requiring that handgun owners be “of good moral character,” a federal appeals court ruled Friday, striking down several new gun regulations. ruled in its first comprehensive review. In the state after a historic decision of the Supreme Court last year.
but in a 261 page decisionA three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also blocked some aspects of New York’s new gun licensing rules, including a requirement that applicants submit a list of their social media accounts.
The court also said that the state could not enforce the part of the law that made it a crime to carry a concealed gun on private property without the express consent of the owner—a restriction that would have prohibited guns from being allowed in stores, supermarkets, and the like. Could be kept away from. In restaurants, unless the owner has a sign up saying guns are welcome.
The appeals court’s decision was in the early stages of a legal battle that is likely to eventually end up again before the Supreme Court, as the court in 2022 strikes down New York’s outdated rules for obtaining a license to carry a handgun outside the home. Was cancelled. For decades, the ability to legally carry guns in public was limited only to those who could show they had a special need for protection.
State officials responded by enacting legislation that was intended to open the door for more people to obtain handgun licenses, but also imposed a number of new restrictions on where guns could be carried. Lawmakers banned them in places including public playgrounds and schools, theaters, places that serve alcohol, and buses and airports.
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Several lawsuits were filed challenging the rules, leading to several lower court decisions that upheld some of the new New York law, but ruled that other aspects were unconstitutional.
In their decision, the justices wrote that it is “in no way unconstitutional” for the state to require applicants for a license to carry a handgun to be of good moral character.
The court wrote, “The denial of a license to bear arms to a person who, if possessed of a weapon, would pose a danger to himself, to others, or to the public, is a well-founded attempt to prevent dangerous individuals from possessing weapons.” is in accordance with recognized historical tradition.” ,
But the court stopped the state from requiring that people hand over a list of all social media accounts created by the applicant in the last three years.
“Although there is no constitutional difficulty in the review of public social media posts by a licensing officer, requiring applicants to also disclose the pseudonymous names under which they post online constitutes an unreasonable infringement on Second Amendment rights which is not supported by analogs in the historical record and moreover presents serious First Amendment concerns,” the court wrote.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the Second Circuit decision a victory.
“Now, a year after the legal assault by right-wing extremists, the core principles of our laws remain in effect,” he said in a statement.
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