“It’s outrageous,” he said on Twitter, “that at one point in national accounts of armed violence, the Supreme Court has recklessly overturned a New York law that limits those who can carry covert weapons.”
The state “is closely reviewing our options, including convening a special session of the legislature,” said the governor, who pledged to “keep New Yorkers safe from armed violence.”
The decision, in a case filed by an ANR-backed group and two people, could allow more weapons to be carried in public. Critics say the ruling will undermine reasonable solutions that they believe can curb armed violence.
“Simply put, this Supreme Court ruling will put New Yorkers at greater risk of armed violence,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in his own statement.
But the city will continue to do everything possible, Adams said, including conducting a “thorough review of our approach to defining” sensitive places “where it is forbidden to carry a gun and reviewing our application process to ensure that only those who are fully qualified can obtain a transport license “.
“We will work together to mitigate the risks this decision will generate once it is implemented,” the mayor said, “since we cannot allow New York to become the wild west.”
The decision “undermines public safety,” says Manhattan DA
The law in question regulated licenses to carry concealed pistols in public for self-defense and required a resident to obtain a license to carry a concealed pistol or revolver to prove that there was a “proper cause” for the permit. But the Supreme Court, with a 6-3 majority, invalidated the law in a ruling issued while the United States continues to struggle with armed violence and mass shootings.
Officials across New York State have anticipated the sentencing, worried it could facilitate access to guns and crimes with more frequent guns, a sentiment echoed Thursday by the district attorney’s offices. of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg criticized the decision in a statement, saying it “severely undermined public safety not only in New York City but across the country.”
However, Bragg said he was “committed to doing everything in my power to fight for the security that everyone deserves in this city.”
“New York still has some of the toughest gun laws in the country,” Bragg said, “and we will continue to use those statutes to hold accountable those who commit armed violence.”
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez also condemned the country’s highest court ruling, calling it a “nightmare for public safety.”
“New York’s strong gun laws have saved lives for more than a century, and the Supreme Court’s decision to open the door to millions of New Yorkers to carry a concealed weapon is a nightmare for public safety,” he said. to say. “The evidence is overwhelming that states with permissive gun laws see much higher rates of gun deaths, from accidents to suicide, domestic incidents to street crimes.”
New York lawmakers react
New York MP Jerry Nadler, a Democrat representing the 10th district of the state Congress, criticized the six Conservative judges who voted to invalidate state law, saying they had “endangered New Yorkers.” and made them “less safe.”
“With armed violence spreading across the country, we should make our communities safer,” he said. “That decision is embarrassing.”
Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, a 9th District Democrat in Congress, used similar language and described the Supreme Court’s decision as an “absolutely embarrassing decision.”
The Supreme Court “has ruled that guns are more important than lives in this country,” said Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader of the state Senate, referring to recent mass shootings such as the one in Buffalo, New York, where an 18- A one-year-old man targeted black shoppers, shooting 13 people, 10 dead.
“In these devastating times, when the nation is recovering from the massive shootings that have shaken Americans to the core, we must stand together to address the laws that continue to allow guns to fall into the wrong hands,” he said. Stewart-Cousins. “New York will face this latest challenge to pass additional gun safety legislation.”
Across the aisle were New York Republicans who praised the decision, including 21st District Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who said the sentence was a “win for the Constitution” in an interview with Fox News.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholds the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens to have and carry weapons,” he said in a statement issued by his office, “and correctly declares unconstitutional New York’s shameful attempt to destroy the rights of the Second Amendment of New Yorkers “.
Rep. Lee Zeldin, who represents the first district in Congress, similarly portrayed the ruling as a victory for law-abiding New Yorkers, whose Second Amendment rights, he said, “are under constant attack.”
And 22nd District Congresswoman Claudia Tenney said the Supreme Court had “finally corrected a mistake against all New Yorkers, claiming that no government has the right to trample on our constitutionally protected rights.”
CNN’s Peter Nickeas and Mark Morales contributed to this report.