The paltry number of gun shops in the five boroughs of New York City will soon be required to post graphic signs warning of the dangers of gun ownership, thanks to the latest anti-gun action by the New York City Council.
The ordinance was spearheaded by City Councilman Erik Bottcher, who complained to Gothamist that, "“I can’t think of a deadlier consumer product that has no warning for consumers at the point of purchase."
Does Bottcher really think that some gun buyers are so stupid they don't realize they're purchasing an item that can cause death and injury? Firearms are lethal weapons, and I'm pretty sure that everyone who buys one is well aware of that fact.
Bottcher's bill, though, doesn't require FFLs to post boilerplate language about firearms being lethal. Instead, it cribs from anti-gun talking points.
The signage would read: "Warning: The presence of a firearm in the home is associated with an increased risk of suicide, death during domestic violence disputes, and unintentional deaths to children and others."
The images will be designed by the City Health Department and are inspired by the graphic labels on cigarette packs in some countries.
Bottcher said he was inspired to craft his ordinance after a federal court upheld an FDA requirement that cigarette packages be labeled with graphic warnings, though a federal judge struck down that rule in September after concluding it violated the Administrative Procedures Act. Another federal judge in Texas granted an injunction against the rule back in January after concluding that the FDA likely exceeded its statutory authority in adopting the rule.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court denied cert last year in a case challenging a local ordinance in Anne Arundel County, Maryland that requires the county's Health Department to develop flyers on “gun safety, gun training, suicide prevention, mental health and conflict resolution,” and local gun shops to distribute that material to all customers purchasing firearms or ammunition.
Its not clear whether any of the 14 FFLs operating in New York City will try to challenge the new ordinance, but there is a difference between what NYC and Anne Arundel County are requiring. For starters, both Bottcher and at least one council member have made comments indicating the purpose of the signage is to dissuade New Yorkers from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
For Bottcher, who is open about his mental health struggles and suicidality as a teen, the fight to warn about the risks of gun ownership have a personal dimension.
“There is not a doubt in my mind that if there was a gun in my home, I would’ve shot myself with that gun,” he said about his adolescence.
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Councilmember Julie Menin, the former commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs, said that from a consumer protection angle the bill is in step with the types of warnings that you would see on over-the-counter drugs.
She also referenced Gothamist’s reporting that more New Yorkers are seeking to arm themselves in recent years. Last year the NYPD received 13,369 to possess a handgun or rifle at home — an 80% increase in applications than the department got in 2022, and nearly triple the applications it got in 2019.
“This is smart common sense legislation that can have an impact,” Councilmember Sandy Nurse said.
Bottcher was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility after attempting suicide as a teen, and I'm truly glad that he made it through those dark days. But if he's really interested in reducing suicide and coloring inside the lines of the Constitution, he should be working to change New York law to allow for voluntary off-site storage of firearms for those who need to to temporarily remove guns from their home.
His warning signs aren't about reducing the number of suicides in New York. They're about reducing the number of gun owners; a motive made clear by Menin's concern over the growing number of Big Apple residents applying for permission to keep a gun in their home.
Unlike smoking, gun ownership is a constitutional right, and these new warning signs are clearly meant to chill the exercise of that right. I think any FFL who seeks to challenge this new ordinance has a strong First Amendment case, and I hope that Beretta Gallery and other gun stores will fight back against the New York City Council in court.
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