The liberal state of New York voted “to effectively nullify” the high court decision allowing people to carry their gun concealed while in public. The Supreme Court giveth and the legislature taketh away. The way New York flipped SCOTUS the bird is a despicable act of “defiance and spitefulness not seen since Southern states engaged in ‘massive resistance‘ to the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board decision,” American Thinker writes. This latest outrage took their breath away.
No gun safe in New York
Because liberals are terrified that a citizen might have an unsafe gun within the borders of their progressive state, especially for self-defense purposes, the New York State Legislature called an “extraordinary session” for the “explicit purpose of defying the Court.” There’s no other way to describe how the bill got “rammed through on a party-line vote by the Democratic supermajority, passed the Assembly, and received the signature of Governor Kathleen Hochul.”
The Supreme Court majority axed New York’s antique requirement that “an applicant for a handgun carry permit demonstrate a ‘special need‘ if he wanted to carry for self-defense.” Justice Clarence Thomas and the rest of the conservatives agreed that such a scheme was “entirely discretionary and arbitrary” so violated the Second Amendment.
Instead, the legislature said, take your Second Amendment and stick it up your nose. Governor Hochul “called the Legislature back from recess and presented a bill that criminalizes as a felony offense concealed carry in perhaps 98% of the state.” Streets and sidewalks only. Even your own home is off limits now. It has to be in a gun safe at all times too.
Obviously, that’s ridiculously unconstitutional but we’ll have to wait for it to play out in court. That will take a while. Especially because SCOUTUS wrapped up the session to go into hiding. They won’t be seen again until October.
Anton Scalia cracked the door with some loose wording and New York liberal gun grabbers kicked it wide open. Based on language in District of Columbia v. Heller, the New York bill “defines nearly every public area except for a road or sidewalk a ‘sensitive area‘ where a permit holder is forbidden to carry concealed.”
Not just places which would legitimately fall under that category, like schools or hospitals, New York extends the zone to include “parks, zoos, libraries, churches, shelters, subways, trains, buses, airports, aircraft, airports, terminals, stations, stadiums, places of entertainment, theaters, museums, concerts, banquet halls, ‘special events’ (such as parades), federal, state, county, and municipal property and places (including restaurants) that serve alcohol.” Times Square “is specifically named as a forbidden zone.”
All property, public or private
It is now illegal to conceal a gun on all private property. The law “does not make a distinction between commercial and residential.” Every parcel is automatically declared a prohibited zone unless “the owner posts explicit signage allowing guns on the premises.” Violation is “a felony offense worth up to four years in prison.”
Shoplifting and arson, meanwhile, have been decriminalized. Then, there’s “a truly bizarre and Kafkaesque clause that can only be characterized as the ‘BLM and Antifa Protection Act.‘”
As part of this bizarre “law,” it’s now a felony to possess any handgun, rifle, or shotgun during “any gathering of individuals to collectively express their constitutional rights to protest [sic] or assemble.”
You can still carry a gun on public roadways and sidewalks. However, it’s not that simple. Any “individual who leaves a firearm in his vehicle is required to lock it in a fireproof and impact-proof vehicle safe or face a misdemeanor charge and up to a year in jail.”
This new law makes carrying a gun even more difficult than it was before the Supreme Court shot down New York’s outdated restrictions. As American Thinker points out, “ironically enough, even politically connected and wealthy persons who were issued ‘unrestricted‘ self-defense licenses and could carry almost anywhere under the previous licensing regime (except schools, courts, and jails) will now find their ability to CCW eviscerated.”
As they say, when you outlaw guns, only outlaws will carry them. New York State will have a much harder time balancing their budget when the tax base all moves to Florida. Down there, they say “go ahead and shoot” then call 911 to collect the body.
