The so-called vampire rule was, perhaps, one of the most idiotic concepts in American law. With the vampire rule, no other civil liberty is presumed to be restricted in a privately owned business other than the right to keep and bear arms. It's called that because vampires have to be invited inside, much like gun owners in states like New York are.
And, the state got smacked down pretty hard on Monday.
As Cam noted yesterday, the Second Circuit isn't exactly a pro-gun court, which means it has to be pretty egregious for them to call a halt to gun rights infringement, which they did.
And the Second Amendment is, rather understandably, stoked over the win.
From a press release:
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners secured an important win today on a key issue in Christian v. James, a case challenging New York’s “sensitive places” carry ban law.
In October 2024, SAF celebrated a major victory when a federal district court ruled the state’s restriction against concealed carry on private property open to the public is unconstitutional. That same ruling, however, upheld New York’s carry ban in parks.
In today’s ruling, the court affirmed the permanent injunction SAF won at the district court as it relates to carry on private property open to the public (aka the "Vampire rule"). In the same opinion, however, the court upheld the facial constitutionality of New York's carry ban in parks, above SAF's objections, and drawing a thoughtful dissent from the court.
“After the Bruen decision forced recalcitrant states like New York to issue carry permits to their residents, they responded by creating overlapping patchworks of ‘sensitive places’ in which even permitted carriers could not exercise their rights,” said SAF Senior Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “New York’s carry ban on private property open to the public – essentially all private businesses – was intended as the state’s next novel circumvention of the Second Amendment. We are thrilled the Second Circuit saw through this ruse and tossed the ban out on its rear end.”
SAF is joined in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition and Brett Christian, for whom the case is named.
“While today’s ruling strikes down a key pillar of New York’s carry ban law, there’s still plenty of work to be done, including on the issue of carry in parks,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The idealogues who think they can create ‘sensitive places’ to ban the legal carry of firearms should understand that SAF will continue to fight for the right to keep and bear arms for all Americans, just like we’ve done for more than five decades.”
I can't say that I'm surprised about the parks ban being upheld. Those are publicly-owned, after all, and thus fall into a different category than private businesses. It's still unconstitutional and, perhaps more importantly, just plain wrong, but I suspect that's going to need to be a separate fight.
For now, the vampire rule is dead in New York, which is good news for folks there.
As was noted also on Monday, Hawaii is the only state where it's been upheld to any degree, and it's unlikely that will hold indefinitely since we're waiting on the Supreme Court to issue a ruling on that particular case.
And really, who didn't see this coming?
I've made no bones about the fact that I'm a property rights guy as well as a gun rights person. If a business doesn't want me to carry a gun on their property, they have a right to tell me no, just as they have a right to tell me I can't talk about particular topics. Plus, if they put a sign on the door telling me that, I know not to spend my money there.
Yet what New York did was take that decision out of the hands of those who hold a strong position on gun control and switched the onus around to where people had to have a strong pro-gun position to allow the exercise of a constitutionally protected right. There's nothing at all about that which we would tolerate on any other right preserved in the Bill of Rights. A blanket ban on prayer over a meal in restaurants unless the establishment expressly permits it? The mere suggestion would stir up enough of a firestorm that it would never happen. A default restriction on discussing political topics in coffee shops unless the owners specifically allow it? It would be unconscionable even to consider it.
The vampire rule, though, did just that with gun rights, and even the Second Circuit knew it went too far.
The Second Amendment Foundation fought the good fight here, as they always do, and Hawaii should get used to the idea that their own version is about to be struck down.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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