New York sued over concealed carry law restrictions

New York is being sued over firearm restrictions that ban out-of-state concealed carry holders from getting a permit to bring their firearms into the state.

The lawsuit, filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition in U.S. District Court in Albany, alleges that the restrictions violate the Second Amendment rights of out-of-state gun owners who can't get a permit to carry a firearm when visiting New York. The litigation names New York State Police Superintendent Stephen James and several county sheriffs who refused to issue permits to out-of-state gun owners.

"Citizens do not lose protection of their rights under the First Amendment’s speech or religion clauses when they cross state lines," lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in the 20-page complaint. "Nor do they lose their protections under the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. Likewise, they do not surrender their Second Amendment protected rights when they travel outside their home state."

The litigants ask the federal judge to issue a declaratory judgment that New York’s laws barring non-residents from possessing or carrying firearms in public are unconstitutional under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

New York, which has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation, is facing several other lawsuits over firearm restrictions, including a challenge to a law that makes it illegal to carry a firearm on private property without consent from the owner and another seeking to strike down its restrictions on sales of civilian body armor.

A lawsuit filed by Gun Owners of America in February also focused on the state's restriction on out-of-state firearm owners, which forced the New York City Police Department to adopt an emergency rule allowing nonresidents to apply for concealed carry permits through the city.

Before the changes, the NYPD didn't have a formal procedure for gun owners who do not live in New York or applicants who are primarily employed in New York City.

But the latest legal challenge asks a federal court judge to strike down the law entirely, citing previous legal rulings, including the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a century-old law in New York requiring applicants to show "proper cause" to obtain a concealed carry license.

"We will continue to teach Governor Hochul that the right to keep and bear arms doesn’t end at New York’s borders," FPC President Brandon Combs said in a statement. "We look forward to ending New York’s immoral ban on carry by non-residents and allowing millions of peaceable people to exercise their rights as they visit the Empire State."