Non-Resident Gun Owners Sue New York Over a Law That Bars Them from Obtaining Carry Permits

Gun owners who are not residents of New York have filed a lawsuit against the state over a ban on honoring other states’ concealed carry permits or allowing non-residents to obtain concealed carry permits — unless they have a New York driver’s license.

What about people just passing through? Well, you may pass through; your gun may not.

Gun Owners of America (GOA), the Gun Owners Foundation, and several gun owners filed the lawsuit in federal court.

The plaintiffs cited U.S. Supreme Court cases New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen (2022) and D.C. v. Heller (2008). In Bruen, two residents sued the state over a law that required them to show a “proper cause” to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun.

Justice Clarence Thomas, who delivered the majority opinion, declared the “proper cause” provision unconstitutional and said that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not “a second-class right.” Gun owners must be allowed to carry their guns in public for personal protection.

The court in Heller struck down D.C.’s 30-year-old law banning the ownership of handguns. The court affirmed that the Second Amendment right is an individual one. Litigation continued after the district tried to prevent residents from carrying their guns for personal protection outside the home. A federal court struck down D.C.’s “good reason” requirement to obtain a concealed carry permit.

GOA said that New York is the only known state where non-residents are denied their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. An excerpt:

As a result, those who hold out of state driver’s licenses may drive in New York, but the exercising of one’s constitutional right to bear arms in New York State is wholly inaccessibly to the 94% of Americans who are not state residents. New York is the only known state where nonresidents are not allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

“The State of New York and its cadre of anti-gun politicians have done everything in their power to weaken and outright ban the Second Amendment within their borders,” Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President said. “The Supreme Court has made clear that the right to bear arms extends to the public square, and this right is for all Americans, not just those who are residents of individual states.”

Photo credit: Tamara Evans (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved

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