Second Circuit upholds bulk of New York concealed-carry law

MANHATTAN (CN) — The Second Circuit on Friday upheld many of the provisions of New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which created new requirements for people seeking a license to carry concealed weapons.

The court’s decision addressed four separate cases from several individuals, one church and two advocacy organizations.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Second Amendment ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, the state passed its updated statute just over a week later.

The law requires gun owners seeking a concealed-carry license to show good moral character and complete 18 hours of training on safe storage requirements, state and federal gun laws, and situational awareness, among others. The law also prohibits firearms in “sensitive locations” including public transit, sports venues, houses of worship and Times Square.

New York’s law has received consistent backlash since its passage. Most recently, the Second Circuit remanded a challenge to the law’s 18-hour training requirement after finding the lower court failed to determine whether a civil rights lawyer who brought the lawsuit had standing.

“In the wake of a reckless Supreme Court decision that stripped away a key tool I had as governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence, I worked with the Legislature to craft nation-leading concealed carry laws to protect public safety,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “Now, even after a year of legal assault from right-wing extremists, core tenets of our laws remain in effect following today’s ruling from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.”

In its decision, the Second Circuit panel upheld various components of the law, pending decisions in lower court proceedings.

First, the court upheld the law’s character requirement and rejected a federal judge's finding that the provision is “unsupported by history and tradition.”

“For as long as licensing has been used to regulate privately-owned firearms, issuance has been based on discretionary judgments by local officials,” the judges wrote in their opinion. “Licensing that includes discretion that is bounded by defined standards, we conclude, is part of this nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation.”

The panel included U.S. Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs, a George H.W. Bush appointee; U.S. Circuit Judge Gerard E. Lynch, a Barack Obama appointee; and U.S. Circuit Judge Eunice C. Lee, a Joe Biden appointee.

But the panel also acknowledged that the character provision is “a spongy concept susceptible to abuse,” adding that those “abuses” can still be addressed in court as they arise.

“A licensing decision that uses ‘good moral character’ as a smokescreen to deny licenses for impermissible reasons untethered to dangerousness, such as the applicant’s lifestyle or political preferences, would violate the Constitution by relying on a ground for disarmament for which there is no historical basis,” the judges wrote in their opinion.

The court also upheld the statute’s “catch-all” provision, which requires a license applicant to submit any other information required by the licensing officer that is necessary and related to the review of the licensing application.

“Neither the history of licensing regimes nor Bruen itself supports the conclusion that the conferral of some discretion to a licensing officer to request reasonable supplementary information is unconstitutional,” the panel wrote.

The panel also upheld the law's cohabitant requirement, overruling a lower court's finding that the provision was unconstitutional. The panel found the law’s requirement for applicants to submit contact information for their current spouse or domestic partner, in addition to any adult cohabitants, is imperative to assess their moral character.

But the panel struck down a requirement that applicants must provide a list of former and current social media accounts from the past three years.

“Disclosing one’s social media accounts — including ones that are maintained pseudonymously — forfeits anonymity in that realm,” the panel said.

The court also upheld much of the law's ban on firearms in “sensitive places,” particularly addressing challenges to the law’s applicability in treatment centers, parks and zoos, and places licensed for alcohol consumption.

But the court affirmed a preliminary injunction to Pastor Micheal Spencer and His Tabernacle Family Church in Horseheads, New York, who challenged the “sensitive places” provision in relation to houses of worship on the grounds it burdens his religious practice.

“The CCIA is not neutral because it allows the owners of many forms of private property, including many types of retail businesses open to the public, to decide for themselves whether to allow firearms on the premises while denying the same autonomy to places of worship,” the judges said in their opinion.

New York Attorney General Letitia James praised the Second Circuit’s decision, particularly pointing to the law’s intention to keep guns out of “sensitive places” including schools, parks and public transportation.

“My office will continue to defend New York’s gun laws and use every tool to protect New Yorkers from senseless gun violence,” James said in a statement.

Follow @NikaSchoonover

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