Eric Adams working with other politicians to circumvent SCOTUS ruling on right to carry

AP Photo/Brittainy Newman

The decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen hasn’t been released by the Supreme Court yet, so we have no idea what the justices will have to say about New York’s “may issue” carry laws, but both sides of the gun control debate are anticipating an opinion that overturns the current system, and Democrats are already trying to get in front of the ruling by sketching out their strategy to limit where law-abiding gun owners can bear arms if the Court says they can no longer arbitrarily decide who gets to do so.

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who as a candidate boasted that he would ditch the city’s security detail and carry a gun to work himself before changing his mind after he was sworn in, says that he’s been huddling with the city’s top attorneys to look for ways to limit the impact of the ruling, and he’s looking to enlist other anti-gun politicians as allies.

The mayor told Crain’s during an interview this week that he has strategized with chief counsel Brendan McGuire and corporation counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix on the options the city has in the event the concealed-carry laws are overturned.

The mayor said he’s reaching out across the country and plans to put together a national working group to look at where cities can create no-carry zones: government designated safe-zones, or sensitive spaces, where concealed carry still would be restricted, even after licensing approval.
“Because we don’t believe the Supreme Court is going to take up that aspect of it,” Adams said. “We believe there’s room for us to say, ‘OK, here’s where you can’t carry: subway systems, schools,’ we could restrict: ‘Ok, you no longer need a license. Well, here’s the restrictions of where you can’t carry.’
“That is what we’re putting together right now as a Plan B,” the mayor said. “Plan A is for them not to pass it.”
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Adams keeps bringing up the subway system in New York, even though there’s currently no prohibition in place barring those with unrestricted concealed carry permits from lawfully carrying on mass transit. Apparently when only a handful of New Yorkers can obtain the permit the practice is fine. It’s only when the average citizen can lawfully bear arms in self-defense that Adams is prepared to call the subway system a “sensitive space” where the legal carrying of firearms must be outlawed.
In fact, that might emerge as an argument if and when Adams’ ban on carrying on mass transportation takes effect. If the city really considered the subways to be a sensitive space, why haven’t they made it a gun-free zone before now?
And let’s be honest; New York’s restrictive laws haven’t done anything to curb the rise in violence in the city, including in the subway system.
Many New Yorkers have been shaken by outbursts in deadly shootings and gun violence. Last month Daniel Enriquez, a Goldman Sachs employee, was shot dead while riding the Q train. Frank James was charged in April with committing a terrorist attack on an N train in Brooklyn after a man opened fire on passengers, injuring 10 people.
Overall citywide shooting incidents have increased by 47% from two years ago, and citywide shooting victims have reached 656 this year, a nearly 50% increase from two years ago, according to the most recent Police Department data.
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Violent criminals have no problem getting a gun and carrying it in New York City. It’s the law-abiding that find it nearly impossible to do the same in self-defense, and Adams wants to do everything he can’t to keep that status quo in place, regardless of what the Supreme Court has to say.

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