United States Supreme Court Building

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled again to allow New York State’s Firearm Dealer Laws and Concealed Carry Improvement Act to remain in effect pending appeal.

The Court on Wednesday refused a request from a group of firearms dealers in New York seeking to halt parts of the state’s new laws regulating commercial gun sales.

The order comes days after it rejected a separate request to block the state’s new firearms law, which was enacted in the wake of the Court’s Second Amendment decision this summer.

Among the laws targeted by the gun sellers were requirements that firearm dealers secure guns in a safe or locked area and have security systems installed on their premises; prohibit people under 18 from entering gun retail stores without a parent or guardian; and provide records of gun sales to government law enforcement agencies and manufacturers upon request.

They also challenged laws regarding the purchase of guns and ammunition, including a licensing requirement for semiautomatic rifles; requiring background checks for ammunition sales and directing New York State Police to establish a database for such sales; and requiring gun dealers to maintain records of ammunition sales.

The regulations took effect in September and December, and the firearms dealers told the court they are unable to comply with “most” of the new laws.

A U.S. district court judge denied their request to block the laws. After appealing to U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, a three-judge panel also declined to halt enforcement of the law pending appeal. Proceedings before the 2nd Circuit are ongoing.

United States Supreme Court Building

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act can remain in effect pending appeal.

The Court upheld a stay that was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli in December 2022.

State Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement that said, “We have a right to enact commonsense measures to protect our communities, and I am pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision to allow New York’s concealed carry gun law to remain in effect. Too many New Yorkers are plagued by gun violence, and we know that basic gun laws help save lives every day. My office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect New Yorkers and defend our responsible gun laws.”

The Concealed Carry Act took effect in September 2022 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The law strengthens requirements for concealed carry permits, prohibits guns in sensitive places, requires individuals with concealed carry permits to request a property owner’s consent to carry on their premises, enhances safe storage requirements, and requires background checks on all ammunition purchases.

Kathy Hochul takes the oath of office as New York State’s first elected female Governor (January 1, 2023)

Kathy Hochul was inaugurated Sunday as New York State’s first elected female governor.

Hochul took office in August 2021 after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior.

She was elected by voters in November, defeating Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

Hochul said she’d get into policy more in her State of the State address this month, but cited housing affordability and energy affordability among other topics in her inaugural address, “And the gun violence epidemic, my gosh. The loss of lives goes on and on. The rise in hate crimes. What happened here? Especially antisemitism, Asian hate, anti LGBTQ hate and the systemic racism that still persists to this day. Those are the fights we are called to take on. We must.”

Hochul also mentioned the lingering effects of the pandemic as well as women’s rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Tom DiNapoli also took the oath of office on Sunday as New York’s second-longest serving Comptroller of more than 15 years. Letitia James was sworn in a second time as Attorney General and Antonio Delgado was sworn in as the state’s Lieutenant Governor, his first full term.

Joe Sempolinski

Congressman Joe Sempolinski will not be supporting the Respect for Marriage Act, citing concerns for religious freedoms.

The legislation protects same-sex and interracial marriage and was passed the U.S. Senate 61 to 36 on Tuesday. It is expected to be acted on by the House next week.

Sempolinski, who calls himself a Constitutional Conservative, said with an amendment by Senator Mike Lee failing in the Senate that would have protected the tax-exempt status of organizations, he has concerns, “And not having those stop-gaps and safeties in there makes me concerned about how this legislation would be used against people whose religious beliefs are not in accord with different definitions of marriage.”

The act does provide exclusions for religious organizations, meaning those groups, “shall not be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods, or privileges for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.”

The legislation would not force any state to allow same-sex couples to marry. But it would require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed, and protect current same-sex unions, if the U.S. Supreme Court‘s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision were to be overturned.

If a state bans same-sex marriage, couples would have the option to marry in states where same-sex marriage is legal.

The bill would also protect interracial marriages by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity or national origin.”

State Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement Wednesday saying, “I am pleased that the full Concealed Carry Improvement Act will stay in effect and continue to protect communities as the appeals process moves forward. My office will continue our efforts to protect the safety of everyday New Yorkers and defend our common-sense gun laws.”

James said the full act is in effect until a three-judge panel on the Second Circuit decides on the motion to stay.

Governor Kathy Hochul also issued a statement, “The interim administrative stay of the district court’s temporary restraining order is an important and appropriate step and affirms that the Concealed Carry Improvement Act will remain in effect during the appeals process. My top priority will always be to keep New Yorkers safe, and we will continue working with the Office of the Attorney General to defend our gun safety laws.”

On Thursday, October 6, a federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of parts of the gun law that was enacted in the wake of a Supreme Court decision earlier this summer striking down certain protections.

The law, which went into effect in September, was signed by Hochul as a swift response to the Supreme Court striking down New York’s gun law that required a resident to obtain a license to carry a concealed pistol or revolver in public and demonstrate that “proper cause” existed for the permit.

But the plaintiffs in the case at hand, including at least one individual who wants to carry his firearm in church, argue the state is violating their Second and 14th Amendment rights by denying them the right to self-defense. They have filed for a preliminary injunction in order to eventually prohibit the state from enforcing its new set of laws.

State Senator George Borrello said in response to the federal judge’s ruling last week that it was only a matter of time before the law was struck down, calling the new concealed carry law unconstitutional.

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.

Robert H. Jackson Center Co-Founder Greg Peterson moderates conversation on U.S. Supreme Court Case Plessy v. Ferguson with featured panelists, Phoebe Ferguson and Keith Plessy, descendants of the original case participants.

Greg Peterson holds discussion with Plessy v. Ferguson descendants Phoebe Ferguson and Keith Plessy

Greg Peterson holds discussion with Plessy v. Ferguson descendants Phoebe Ferguson and Keith Plessy

It was a standing room only crowd to hear the descendants of the plaintiff and judge in Plessy v. Ferguson case speak at the Robert H. Jackson Center Tuesday as part of Constitution Day.

Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people. Rejecting Plessy’s argument that his constitutional rights were violated, the Supreme Court ruled that a law that “implies merely a legal distinction” between white people and Black people was not unconstitutional. As a result, restrictive Jim Crow legislation and separate public accommodations based on race became commonplace.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Plessy pleaded guilty and paid the fine as part of the case. He was posthumously pardoned by the Louisiana Governor on January 5, 2022.

Homer’s descendent, Keith Plessy, described what it was like to be at the pardoning ceremony, “I described to the audience that day that my feet, it felt like my feet were not touching the ground. Because I thought that my ancestors were actually with me, carrying me that day. From all the research that we’ve done in our time and to have the dream that we’ve already dreamt a long time ago, to have everybody come on board when I thought of coming together as opposed to being Plessy vs. Ferguson, we became Plessy and Ferguson. And we decided to be friends.”

Phoebe Ferguson said the mission of the foundation she and Plessy created is to honor the work of the citizen’s committee to take the case to the Supreme Court by teaching the history of the case and how it’s still relevant today, “If you’re following the news, you can understand with the attempt at re-instituting voter suppression laws, and over-incarceration, and even using.. overturning Roe (v. Wade).. using Plessy to overturn Roe brings us into, the case stays in the contemporary discussion about equality.”

The full audio of the discussion on Plessy versus Ferguson at the Robert H. Jackson Center will be available online here:

The program, “From Vs to &: A Living Legacy,” will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 13 at the Center.

The free event features Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson with the conversation moderated by Greg Peterson.

The Plessy vs. Ferguson case was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1896 in which the Court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in quality, a doctrine that came to be known as “separate but equal.”

Coinciding with this event, the Jackson Center will host the Lemmon Slave Case Exhibit for one week beginning today, September 12. This panel exhibit of the landmark New York State Court of Appeals case features a video narration by James Earl Jones with an introduction by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. The exhibit is intended to educate the public on the role of the New York courts in paving the way for the abolition of slavery.

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/