New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week signed legislation that supposedly complies with the Supreme Court's recent ruling against her state's restrictions on carrying guns in public. In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, decided on June 23, the Court said New York's "proper cause" requirement for carry permits violated the Second Amendment. New York's law, the majority noted, gave local officials broad discretion to reject applications, transforming "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" into a privilege for the few.
The new law preserves much of that discretion under a different name, and it creates an expansive list of "sensitive locations" where guns are prohibited, making it difficult or impossible even for permit holders to carry firearms for self-defense. By failing to take the Court's objections to the old policy seriously, New York is inviting another constitutional challenge.
