Following a federal judge’s injunction on the District of Columbia’s strict may-issue practices to obtain a concealed carry permit, some are wondering if places like New York City, Maryland and New Jersey could be next.
After losing a five-year legal battle with gun rights advocates from the Second Amendment Foundation against Washington D.C.’s outright ban on any sort of lawful concealed carry, lawmakers in the district implemented a strict permitting scheme to conform to the orders of U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr.
Then, when it turned out that Washington D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier declined far more applications than she granted, the SAF brought the city back into court and won a victory last week when Scullin found the city’s good cause requirement in violation of the Second Amendment.
Now, as the District mulls over its options for appeal, the litigious shock wave seems to be radiating out to other regions with similarly strict requirements.
“That national battle could very well come to New York City,” warned columnist Seth Lipsky in a piece that appeared this week in both the Post and the Sun. “The city’s strict laws governing residents’ ability to carry a concealed gun would be vulnerable to the same constitutional objection as the District of Columbia gun laws.”
However, SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb told Guns.com Thursday that New York’s restrictive gun scheme is safe, for now, as best course of action to repeal the scheme there and in other jurisdictions could be through nine justices.
“The best and fastest way to help stop the abuse of how carry or gun permits are issued in places like New York, New Jersey and Maryland is to get the Wrenn case against the District of Columbia heard and upheld by the Supreme Court,” said Gottlieb. “Past rulings in those states make it difficult to get favorable rulings for gun rights.”
Nevertheless, he advised the group is not putting anything on the back burner.
“We will do all that we can to defend gun rights in the courts in not just New York but in every state and U.S. Territory,” said Gottlieb.
