If you’ve been wanting to get a concealed carry license in New York State, now’s the time. A judge has issued a temporary injunction, blocking Kathy Hochul’s absurd “Concealed Carry Improvement Act.” That act had a laundry list of requirements, such as turning over your social media accounts to the government, that had to be met in order to get a concealed carry license.
For the time being, at least, that law is suspended, and people can presumably go grab a license. While we don’t know how the judge will ultimately rule, it’s a good early sign that he’s granted an injunction.
To even explain what just happened in this lawsuit, we have to go back and recap the Bruen decision in the Supreme Court earlier this year. The Bruen case argued that New York’s then-current concealed carry law restricted the Second Amendment. You basically had to prove to the state of New York that you actually “need” a concealed carry license because your life is in danger. This effectively blocked almost all concealed carry applicants in New York.
In the Bruen decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional, and Americans have a right to a concealed carry license whether their life is in imminent danger or not. Similar laws in other states like Maryland and California were also immediately voided.
The Democrat-controlled New York legislature immediately passed the “Concealed Carry Improvement Act” to try to get around the Bruen decision. Democrats truly hate the idea of Americans being able to defend themselves from the government or BLM rioters, so they went back to the drawing board with a new, very similar act.
Gun Owners of America sued New York, arguing that the Concealed Carry Improvement Act was simply a sneaky way to get around the Bruen decision. US District Court Judge Glenn Suddaby seems to have agreed. The George W. Bush-appointed judge issued an immediate injunction against the Concealed Carry Improvement Act.
If you’re unfamiliar with the hoops this act placed on people who simply wanted a concealed carry license, here are some of the requirements that were blocked by Judge Suddaby’s decision:
First, a person was required to show that they have “good moral character” to get a concealed carry license. By whose standard? Does Madonna have good moral character? Does Donald Trump? Does Michelle Obama? Different people would give different answers to that deliberately subjective requirement.
The law required the names and contact information of the applicant’s spouse and anyone else living in their home. This is obviously none of the government’s business. And how much would an applicant have to hate their spouse or adult children to want to place their names on a government list?
Applicants were required to hand over their social media accounts and passwords so the government can review them and decide whether to give them a concealed carry license. They’d presumably scour your account to see if you’ve ever said anything objectionable about Democrats, or if you sound angry when you say something in the heat of the moment. If you’re deemed a “MAGA extremist” by some liberal Democrat’s standard, well, sorry. You don’t get a concealed carry license. For exercising your First Amendment right, you don’t get to exercise your Second Amendment right. (Spoiler alert: That’s not how the Bill of Rights works. You have all the rights. Period.)
The Concealed Carry Improvement Act also banned concealed carry in all parks, zoos, churches, theaters, First Amendment-protected protests, bars, and on private property without the express permission of the owner.
All of that nonsense has been blocked by Judge Suddaby’s injunction. Let’s hope that the judge continues on this path, and drives a stake through the heart of this anti-Second Amendment law.
