Last June in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to require that people who want to carry handguns in public for self-defense demonstrate that they have "proper cause" to do so. New York legislators and Gov. Kathy Hochul responded by eliminating that requirement while simultaneously imposing a raft of new restrictions, including criteria for proving a carry-permit applicant's "good moral character" and bans on firearm possession in a long list of "sensitive locations." Yesterday a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) against enforcing many of those rules, saying they probably violate the Second Amendment.
U.S. District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby's decision in Antonyuk v. Hochul casts doubt on the constitutionality of the vague standards that New York and several other states retained even after Bruen. It also suggests that sweeping, location-specific gun bans like New York's, which make leaving home with a gun legally perilous even for permit holders, are inconsistent with the constitutional right to bear arms.
