According to the lawsuit, filed on September 13 by two Western New Yorkers, the state’s expansion of sensitive and restricted locations constitutes a “de facto ban on the carriage of loaded, operable handguns for self-defense.”

A new state gun control bill went into effect on September 1 that expanded the number of sensitive and restricted locations where guns could be carried.

Governor Kathy Hochul has stated previously that those sensitive locations include schools, colleges, daycares, restaurants that serve alcohol and more.

The lawsuit alleges that the law essentially creates a no concealed guns default in a variety of public and private spaces.

It also claims that the new law designating sensitive locations goes “far beyond any constitutionally relevant historical justification. It goes on to say the new law makes a mockery of the recent Supreme Court decision.”

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned a New York State law that placed strict restrictions on carrying concealed firearms in public for self defense, finding its requirement that applicants seeking a concealed carry license demonstrate a special need for self-defense is unconstitutional.

The state responded with new legislation that enhanced licensing requirements for concealed carry permit applicants, added new provisions for sensitive areas where the permit holder is prohibited from carrying a concealed firearm, enhanced safe storage requirements to apply if a minor under the age of 18 lives in the home, and made technical changes to the Body Armor Law.

The Sheriff’s Office said in a release that it received 1,000 applications in the last six weeks alone. Typically, the office said, they process 1,000 to 1,200 permits a year. They said they’re processing applications in the order received. Applications received on or postmarked September 1, 2022 cannot be accepted or processed due to not meeting requirements of the new law.

The Pistol Permit Office will be contacting applicants to set up in-person appointments. Applicants are asked not to contact the Permit Office.

The new state law places limits on where guns can be carried, including mass transit, polling locations and other areas deemed to be sensitive. The measure also lays down licensing and training requirements for a concealed carry permit.

The Sheriff’s Office noted that it working to update its applications to meet state guidelines including working with local safety instructors to develop the 16-hour firearms safety training curriculum now required. Once the course is finalized, the office says new permit applications will be accepted again.

On Wednesday, a U.S. District judge in Syracuse rejected a request by Gun Owners of America Inc. and others for an order to halt the roll-out of the state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

The judge did say the group could amend and refile their request for a preliminary injunction.

New York lawmakers passed the new law this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the state’s previous restrictions on concealed weapons permits.

The new law contains strengthened background checks and firearm safety and live-fire training for individuals seeking to obtain concealed carry permits; prohibits concealed carry permit holders from bringing their firearms into sensitive locations, including Times Square, bars, libraries, schools, government buildings and hospitals, among others; and requires renewal or recertification of permits every three years.

New permitting and minimum age requirements for semi-automatic rifles takes effect this Sunday, September 4. After that date, an individual must be at least 21 years old and have a permit prior to purchasing or taking possession of a semiautomatic rifle. These new requirements were included in a package of legislation in response to the racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo this spring. Licenses are not required for individuals who possessed semiautomatic rifles before September 4, 2022.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a new Gun Safety Website to provide the public, gun owners, and gun dealers with comprehensive information about all of the new requirements under state law. That site can be found at https://gunsafety.ny.gov/

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with State Senator George Borrello about the last state legislative session, gun control, and the extraordinary legislative session scheduled for June 30, 2022.

George Borrello

The governor wants lawmakers to consider new ways to tighten the state’s gun laws after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s concealed carry law. The previous law needed people to say why they needed to carry a concealed pistol, and without “proper cause” could not be allowed to do so. The Supreme Court ruled that the “proper cause” restriction was unconstitutional.

Hochul submitted her own legislation that she wants lawmakers to consider. She also wants legislatures to consider a constitutional amendment that would give men and women in New York State equal rights.

Lawmakers were working late in the night Thursday to iron out language on a new gun law that would follow the Supreme Court’s ruling against New York State.

The State Senate and Assembly are expected to resume meeting at 9:00 this morning.

Governor Kathy Hochul

State legislation is being developed that will ban guns in government buildings, health facilities, places where children gather and public transportation in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision making it easier to legally carry firearms in public.

The Gothamist reports Governor Kathy Hochul said that she and legislative leaders have agreed to a series of gun-control measures that are expected to be voted on today, when state lawmakers return to the Capitol for an extraordinary session.

She said the details and language are still being worked out. Hochul developed the policy following a meeting of the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns with highlights including:
– A ban on guns in “sensitive places,” which also include polling places and educational institutions
– Preventing guns from being carried in private businesses unless the business owner explicitly allows them
– Expanding the list of criteria that disqualifies someone from obtaining a pistol permit, including if they have a “history of dangerous behavior”
– Expanding the state’s “safe storage” law to require guns are locked while in a car, or in a home with someone under the age of 18 (up from the current 16)
– And requiring a background check to purchase ammunition for a gun that requires a permit

The push for new gun-control legislation comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling last week in favor of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, which sued the state over its law requiring an applicant to show “proper cause” – essentially, a particular need to carry a gun for self-defense – in order to get a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public.

In the 6-3 ruling, the court found the century-old state law violated the U.S. Constitution, striking down the provision and making it easier to obtain a concealed carry permit.

But Justice Clarence Thomas’ ruling and a concurring opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh made clear that the state can still ban guns in “sensitive places,” such as government buildings.

Hochul said she and state lawmakers are in agreement on an expansive list of sensitive places. She also said they agree that guns should be presumptively banned from private businesses, unless the business owner proactively opts in to allowing them.

The presumption will be that they don’t want concealed carry unless they put out a sign saying, ‘Concealed carry weapons welcomed here,’” she said.

When asked if the state’s list of sensitive places would include places that serve alcohol, Hochul said they would be covered under the presumptive gun ban for private businesses.

Whatever lawmakers pass will be subject to strict legal scrutiny from gun groups – including the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association – that have been willing to sue in the past.

Governor Hochul is also hoping state lawmakers can pass the Equality Amendment during the special legislative session.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Hochul is urging agreement on the proposed, but stalled amendment to the state constitution that would put equality protections in place for New Yorkers.

The amendment has been stuck in neutral due to disagreements among Democratic lawmakers over religious protection language in the amendment. New York has protections in place for abortion rights and earlier this month legislation was approved meant to strengthen legal protections for women from outside New York seeking abortions as well as providers of the procedure.

Unlike legislation, a proposed constitutional amendment is not signed by the governor after passage in the Legislature. An amendment must be approved by two separately elected sessions of the Legislature and then put before voters in a referendum.

Hochul encouraged lawmakers to discuss the issue with her in an effort to broker an agreement.

Governor Kathy Hochul announces executive orders, legislation to strengthen gun control laws, combat domestic terrorism (May 18, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul introduced an array of executive orders and new legislation Wednesday in response to a mass shooting in Buffalo last week.

The Associated Press reports Hochul’s announcement came days after a White 18-year-old wearing military gear killed 10 Black shoppers and workers at the supermarket using a rifle purchased legally a few months ago.

New York is among states that have a “red flag” law, which allows law enforcement officials to petition a court to take away someone’s guns if they are potentially dangerous because of a mental health problem.

That law was in place last spring when state police questioned the shooting suspect over comments he made as a high school student about wanting to commit a murder-suicide. He was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation under a state mental health law, and released a day and a half later.

State Police did not, however, initiate the court process to temporarily take away the suspect’s access to guns following the incident.

Hochul said state police must now file for extreme risk protection orders under New York’s red flag law when they have probable cause to believe someone is a threat to themselves or others.

According to State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen, State police themselves have successfully applied for 300 of over 1,000 protection orders granted by courts under the red flag law, which became effective in fall 2019.

Hochul said such orders typically last for one year but can be renewed. Courts can bar people from possessing or buying firearms or order them to give up firearms.

Hochul’s executive order mostly affects people who interact with police on the highway or people who live outside of New York City and the state’s biggest communities: New York state police serve the state’s highway system and typically rural communities in need of law enforcement assistance.

New York will also track and try to stop violent domestic extremism on social media through new units in the state police and the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

The new units will fund local threat assessment management teams, as well as track and intervene when people show signs of radicalization through their social media posts. New York will also train law enforcement, school and mental health professionals about the uptick in domestic and homegrown violent extremism and radicalization.

The governor wants lawmakers to pass her bill to make more kinds of guns subject to the state’s firearm laws. Hochul said the nation has almost become desensitized to the devastation of mass shootings and gun violence, and the spread of extremist ideology online.

Attorney General Letitia James simultaneously announced the launch of an investigation into social media companies that the suspected shooter allegedly used to discuss his plans for the killings.

Domestic terror attacks and plots have tripled nationally in the past decade, the governor’s office noted Wednesday. The office stated there were 73 terrorist attacks or unearthed plots in the U.S. last year, including 38 White supremacist and similarly like-minded attacks or plots.

Scene of shooting at Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo (Photo Credit: WKBW)

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will travel to Buffalo today to meet with the families of victims of Saturday’s deadly shooting at a grocery store.

WBFO reports the trip comes three days after a gunman opened fire in a Tops Friendly Market store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo, leaving 10 people dead. Following his arrest, the 18-year-old suspect told officials he was targeting the Black community.

After the shooting, a document allegedly tied to the gunman emerged online. It includes racist, anti-immigrant views and cites the Replacement Theory — a far-right, White nationalist conspiracy theory that baselessly claims that White people in American are being systematically replaced by people of color.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Department of Justice is investigating the shooting “as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism.”

During their trip on Tuesday, the President and first lady will visit the Tops Market before meeting with the family members of the victims, first responders, law enforcement and local leaders, according to a White House official.

Biden is then expected to speak at the community center where he will call on Congress to take action to on gun control in order to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and people with serious mental illness.

Governor Kathy Hochul in Buffalo following mass shooting (May 15, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul promised to advance new gun control legislation following Saturday’s mass shooting at the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo.

WBFO reports an 18-year-old White male allegedly killed 10 people and injured three others at the grocery store located on the city’s predominately Black East Side in an attack that authorities say was a hate crime.

Hochul arrived in Buffalo and addressed the media several hours later and shared some information about the gunman’s weapon. She said the firearm was legally purchased but modified with illegal magazines.

The Broome County home of the alleged gunman is just seven miles from the Pennsylvania border. He has been charged with first-degree murder and is in jail without bail.

As part of her State of the State address earlier this year, Hochul acknowledged increasing gun violence and announced a three-part agenda, which includes funding law enforcement gun safety initiatives and partnering with neighboring states to crack down on gun trafficking.

Hochul said she had already planned to announce a new gun reform package this week prior to Saturday’s shooting.

The gunman livestreamed the shooting on Twitch, a video streaming site that is typically used to live stream video games. The website said it removed the channel within two minutes of the shooting starting, but Hochul said social media outlets must be more vigilant.

Hochul said she plans to continue work with local, state and federal authorities to identify similar messages online, adding that it is their “best defense right now.”