State lawmakers will be back in Albany Thursday for a special session that Governor Kathy Hochul called to address the Supreme Court striking down New York’s 109-year-old concealed carry gun permit law last week.
The conservative-majority court ruled 6-3 on June 23 that New York’s gun permit law infringed upon a person’s self-defense rights. The court did previously indicate, however, that restrictions in carrying guns in “sensitive places” such as schools or government buildings is appropriate.
Hochul condemned the high court’s decision Thursday as not “just reckless, but reprehensible,” and indicated that she would convene a special legislative session to pass an appropriate legal response to the ruling.
The next day, amid the backlash from the Supreme Court striking down the 50-year-old landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on reproductive rights, Hochul formally issued a proclamation for the special session to begin June 30. The legislature had officially finished its scheduled 2022 proceedings back on June 3.
Hochul said she would submit legislation to the Assembly and state Senate this Thursday focused on necessary changes to statutes on firearm safety that would ensure “protection of public safety and health.”
“The Supreme Court’s reckless and reprehensible decision to strike down New York’s century-old concealed carry law puts lives at risk here in New York,” Hochul said in a statement. “Since the decision was released, I have been working around the clock with our partners in the legislature to craft gun safety legislation in response to this ruling that will protect New Yorkers.”
The gun permit law that New York had in place since 1913 had required gun owners to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. Two types of permits were offered, including a restricted permit that only allowed someone to carry a weapon if they were either hunting or conducting target shooting, or traveling to and from their place of business.
The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association had initiated the lawsuit against New York’s gun permit requirements on behalf of two members who wanted to carry concealed firearms without a permit. The case ultimately led to the Supreme Court and its decision Thursday.
It’s the second straight year that Hochul called the state legislature into special session. Days after becoming governor, following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo last August, Hochul brought the legislators back to Albany to consider and ultimately pass a package of bills including an extension of the pandemic-related eviction moratorium, which lapsed on Jan. 15 of this year.
With AP reports
