A federal judge has ruled that a constitutional challenge to New York state’s ban to sell bulletproof vests to most civilians can move forward.

John Sinatra Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, in a decision dated Nov. 8, rejected a motion from state Attorney General Letitia James and other state officials to dismiss a challenge, ruling the plaintiff has standing.

Three individuals and the gun rights group Firearms Policy Coalition Inc., argue enforcement of the law in question deprives them of their “fundamental, individual right to keep and bear defensive arms in common use” and rights under the Second and Fourteen Amendments.

The New York state Legislature passed the law in 2022 making it illegal in New York for vendors to sell bulletproof vests to most civilians. The first offense is a misdemeanor and any subsequent offense will be a felony. The law allows vendors only to sell to people in law enforcement and law enforcement-adjacent occupations with proper identification at the point of sale. It applies to in-person and online sales.

Those who purchased bulletproof vests before the law went into effect are not subject to arrest for wearing them.

The law was passed in the wake of the Tops supermarket mass shooting in Buffalo in May 2022 that left 10 people dead, in which the shooter was wearing a bulletproof vest and police at the time said a retired Buffalo officer working security at the store may have been able to stop the shooter had he not been wearing such equipment.

Similar legislation has been introduced multiple times by some New York members of Congress in the U.S. House of Representatives, but those measures have gone nowhere.