s annual dinner in Washington, Tuesday, May 23, 2023." width="171" height="114" />s annual dinner in Washington, Tuesday, May 23, 2023." width="171" height="114" />
New York can continue to enforce a new state law that bans guns from “sensitive places” — such as schools, playgrounds and Times Square — while the legal process plays out, the US Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
The justices turned down an emergency request from a New York gun owners group that challenged the Concealed Carry Improvement Act and asked the high court to lift an order by a federal appeals court that allowed it to remain in effect.
Syracuse federal Judge Glenn T. Suddaby in October had blocked enforcement of large portions of the law that he said were unconstitutional — but the New York City-based Second Circuit Court of Appeals put that ruling on hold last month.
The appeals court is continuing to review the case. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wrote that the high court would not intervene to “reflect respect” for the appeals court’s “procedures in managing its own docket, rather than expressing any view on the merits of the case.”
Still, Alito and Thomas noted the law “presents novel and serious questions under both the First and Second Amendments.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James hailed the high court’s decision and said the Concealed Carry Improvement Act will remain in effect.
“We have a right to enact commonsense measures to protect our communities, and I am pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow New York’s concealed carry gun law to remain in effect. Too many New Yorkers are plagued by gun violence, and we know that basic gun laws help save lives every day,” her office said in a statement.
Gov. Hochul last summer signed the law that prohibits carrying firearms into “sensitive areas” — including government buildings, medical facilities, parks, zoos, playgrounds, on public transportation, and educational facilities, as well as Times Square.
“Keeping New Yorkers safe is my top priority,” Hochul said in a statement. “I’m pleased that this Supreme Court order will allow us to continue enforcing the gun laws we put in place to do just that. We believe that these thoughtful, sensible regulations will help to prevent gun violence, and we will keep working with the New York Attorney General’s office on protecting the laws.”
The legislation came in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down a century-old state law restricting the carrying of concealed weapons.
Thomas wrote that the law restricting permits to New Yorkers unless they show “proper cause” violated the 14th Amendment “by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms in public.”
