The state of New York got slapped down by the Supreme Court. The Bruen decision gutted their gun control scheme thoroughly and then set the stage so that there shouldn’t have been any future shenanigans by the state.

New York, however, didn’t get the lesson.

They immediately rushed through numerous measures in an ill-conceived bill that might almost have looked like they were complying with the Court’s ruling…assuming you weren’t really looking at it.

Now, though, they’ve been smacked down yet again.

A federal judge in New York temporarily suspended many parts of the state’s new gun restrictions on Monday to allow members of a gun-owners’ rights group to continue their lawsuit challenging the new law as unconstitutional.

Judge Glenn Suddaby of the U.S. District Court in Syracuse agreed to issue the order at the request of six New York residents who are members of Gun Owners of America, which competes with the National Rifle Association in political influence.

That’s the brunt of it, and Cam will be delving into the ruling in more detail later.

In the meantime, Gun Owners of America is a happy organization, as it should be.

From a press release sent out after the ruling:

Today, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) secured a preliminary injunction in federal district court against most of New York’s poorly named “Concealed Carry Improvement Act.” This follows GOA and GOF securing a temporary restraining order against the law in October, which was frustratingly blocked by a federal appeals court.

The ruling from Judge Glenn Suddaby, who indicated this law has imposed “unprecedented constitutional violations,“ enjoins the following provisions:

• Requiring good moral character
• Requiring the names and contact info of spouses and other adults in the applicant’s home
• Requiring applicants to disclose social media accounts for review
• The restrictions on carrying in public parks, zoos, places of worship, locations where alcohol is served, theaters, banquet halls, conferences, airports and buses, lawful protests or assemblies, and the prohibition on carrying on private property without express consent from the owner

The injunction will take effect immediately, despite the State of New York’s attempt to delay the injunction.

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement:   

“Just like we warned politicians after the Bruen decision, fall in line, or we will force you to. We are excited to see Kathy Hochul finally served a plate of humble pie, and we are fully prepared to continue the fight should she again attempt to disarm the citizens of her state at a time when her party’s policies are only escalating the danger that everyday citizens face.”

Sam Paredes, on behalf of the Board of Directors for the Gun Owners Foundation, added: 

“This is very exciting for the citizens of New York, as today liberty won and tyranny lost. GOF and our allies remain fully prepared to defend this ruling from the foolish appeals that the anti-gunners in Albany will inevitably bring.” 

Honestly, this ruling, though temporary, effectively guts the New York concealed carry law as it currently stands. In fact, I’m having a hard time looking at that list and thinking of much of anything left.

The judge in this case made the right call, and this is what should happen to overly-ambitious states who think that Bruen wasn’t a court ruling and just a friendly suggestion. There’s literally no part of this measure that’s not objectionable to Second Amendment supporters.

And that was the point.

Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed through this measure because it was literally the most restrictive she could imagine within what she believed was Bruen’s framework. Yet it seems at least one judge is inclined to believe that she stepped well beyond in enacting this gun control measure.

And she did.

No one should be forced to turn over social media information, in part because social media isn’t real life. My Facebook feed is filled with a weird mix of science fiction, fantasy, medieval history, guns (obviously), and some pretty dark humor. What it doesn’t tell anyone, though, is a damn thing about who I am as a person. That’s true of anyone.

Then there’s the fact that the law basically set the default for property to “gun-free zone,” which is weird because we’d never do that with any other constitutionally protected right.

Frankly, at no point does the New York gun control law make any constitutional sense, and the judge has made that abundantly clear.

Undoubtedly, New York will appeal the ruling, but I suspect that at the end of the day, they’re not going to like where this is headed.