Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to New York Gun Law

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court turned down an emergency request from a firearms seller to halt a months-old New York law which imposed new restrictions on gun purchases and sellers that they claim adversely affected sales and violated their rights. 

The ruling comes as challenges to state gun laws across the nations have increased after the Supreme Court struck down previous New York gun laws in June of last year. In that opinion, the Court determined that there is a constitutional right to carry a gun outside the home for self defense, prompting states such as New York and Illinois to pass even more restrictive gun legislation.

The new state law which prompted the suit, New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, has been heavily contested in federal courts after Albany lawmakers approved it, much to the dismay of state law enforcement officials who condemned the law, which took effect Sept. 1, 2022, saying it would be difficult to enforce and may be unconstitutional. The New York State Sheriffs’ Association called it a “thoughtless, reactionary action.”

However, at midday Jan. 18 the Supreme Court rejected the application in Gazzola v. Hochul, court file 22A591, in an unsigned order with no justices dissenting from the order.

The dealers said in court papers that the new law treats “state licensed dealers in firearms as if they are ‘a highly selective group inherently suspect of criminal activities,’” adding that they were “urgently seek[ing] a preliminary injunction to keep their doors open, while fighting to restore their civil rights through this lawsuit.”

“Petitioners are risking everything to try to stay in business in support of civil rights under the Second, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and to keep the doors open and the lights on while they pursue this case, but we can’t seem to find a judge in district or circuit court who will back them up,” they said in the brief.

One seller complained that New York was making an unprecedented demand that all federally licensed firearms dealers and New York state licensed dealers “surrender their federal firearms compliance records” or face “incarceration and license revocation.

“Until now, no federal, state, or municipal government in this country has attempted to grab the federal firearms compliance records of [a federal firearms dealer],” they said.

In a similar manner, the Supreme Court declined to block the New York law in an order on Jan. 11, in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli, brought by New York residents. 

Although the request to stay a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which reinstated the law, was denied, Justice Samuel Alito issued a statement, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, suggesting that the high court didn’t intend to let the law continue permanently and encouraged Second Amendment advocates involved in the lawsuits to continue fighting it. 

“The New York law at issue in this application presents novel and serious questions under both the First and the Second Amendments,” Alito wrote. “Applicants should not be deterred by today’s order from again seeking relief if the Second Circuit does not, within a reasonable time, provide an explanation for its stay order or expedite consideration of the appeal.”