NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) – New York lawmakers on Friday passed gun laws banning guns from a long list of “sensitive sites,” including Times Square, and requiring people who want a license of guns receive more training and submit their social media accounts to the government review.
The emergency legislative session began Thursday, a week after the Conservative majority in the Supreme Court overturned New York’s restrictive gun license laws and ruled for the first time that the U.S. Constitution grants a person the right to carry weapons in public for self-defense. Read more
New York Democratic leaders have criticized the ruling, saying there will be more armed violence if more people carry guns. They have admitted that they now have to loosen the state’s centennial permit plan, but aim to maintain as many restrictions as they can in the name of public safety, which could end up being a target for further legal challenges.
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The court ruled that the law lawmakers are changing gave too much discretion to officials to deny permission.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who ordered the special session in the legislature, said state gun licensing regulations had made New York have the fifth lowest rate of gun deaths. of the 50 states of the United States.
“Our state will continue to keep New Yorkers safe, even despite this Supreme Court setback,” he said at a news conference in Albany. “They may think they can change our lives with a stroke of a pen, but we also have pens.”
The court allowed people to be prohibited from carrying weapons in certain “sensitive places,” but warned lawmakers not to apply the label too broadly. The court also facilitated pro-gun groups to repeal a gun regulation, ruling that gun regulation was probably unconstitutional if not similar to the type of regulations of the 18th century, when the Second Amendment was ratified. of the Constitution.
In the early hours of Friday, the state government released the text of a bill that included a list of proposed sensitive sites.
Includes government buildings, medical facilities, places of worship, libraries, playgrounds, parks, zoos, schools, universities, summer camps, addiction support centers, homeless shelters, nursing homes , public transportation including the New York City subway, places where they drink alcohol. or marijuana is consumed, museums, theaters, stadiums and other venues, polling stations and Times Square.
The Senate passed Bill 43-20 on Improving Hidden Transportation in a party line vote Friday afternoon after hours of debate in which Republican lawmakers said the new legislation was too onerous for to persons attempting to exercise the right to bear arms. The Assembly had begun the debate on the bill, but lawmakers said there may not be a vote until Saturday.
If passed, the law would go into effect on September 1st.
‘FLAGING INFRINGEMENT’
The National Rifle Association, the powerful rights group of gun owners the New York affiliate was the main successful plaintiff in last week’s Supreme Court case, said the bill was a “flagrant violation” of the court ruling and created more barriers for New Yorkers. self-defense rights, indicating that it could soon face legal challenges.
“Governor Hochul and his allies opposed to the Second Amendment in Albany have challenged the U.S. Supreme Court with an intentionally malicious rewriting of New York’s covert transportation law,” said Darin Hoens, the NRA’s state director. of New York, in a statement.
The court ruled in the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen that New York City officials had too much subjective discretion as to which gun license applicants could enjoy what he said was a right. constitutional. Applicants were denied a concealed transportation permit if they could not convince an official that they had a “proper cause” or some sort of special reason to carry a gun to defend themselves. Read more
Reluctantly and not without protest, Hochul agreed that the state should remove the requirements of the “proper cause,” although the bill still requires licensing officers to find that the applicant has a “good moral character.”
The proposed new licensing rules also require applicants to meet with the licensing officer, usually a judge or police officer, for an in-person interview and provide contact information for some family members. immediate and of any adult with whom they live.
The bill also considers it a crime to carry a gun to private commercial premises, unless the company affirmatively publishes a notice saying concealed weapons are welcome.
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Report by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Daniel Wallis
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