New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Monday she is appealing U.S. District Court Judge Glenn Suddaby’s ruling last week that blocked parts of the state’s new concealed carry law.
“Today my office filed a motion to keep the entire Concealed Carry Improvement Act in effect and continue to protect communities as the appeals process moves forward. This common-sense gun control legislation is critical in our state’s effort to reduce gun violence. We will continue to fight for the safety of everyday New Yorkers,” James said in an emailed statement.
Judge Suddaby allowed a legal challenge from the Gun Owners of America to proceed, while at the same time, blocking parts of New York’s “Concealed Carry Improvement Law” from being enforced.
“This decision is radical and extreme and really goes beyond even the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Bruen case,” Rebecca Fischer, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence told Capital Tonight of Suddaby’s decision. “We’re really looking now at the Second Circuit to really interpret this according to the constitution.”
When asked why a responsible gun owner shouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun in New York state, which has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country, Fischer pointed to research which showed that fewer guns has led to fewer shootings.
“Even when an individual has some experience with a firearm, or even if they have a lot of experience … more guns in public leads to more gun violence,” Fischer said.
Indeed, according to the gun control group “Everytown USA," New York has the third strongest gun laws in the country and the fifth-lowest rate of gun violence.
James Ostrowski, CEO of LibertyMovement.Org and a Second Amendment lawyer, told Capital Tonight that Suddaby’s ruling was a “careful and temporary ruling,” but he expects the many challenges to New York’s concealed carry laws to go “as high as they can” until the laws which they believe are unconstitutional are “reversed by the Supreme Court.”