Supreme Court to rule soon on Upstate NY case that could make it easier to carry guns across US – syracuse.com

The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a case that started in New York state and could affect the ease with which people nationwide are allowed to carry guns in public.

A lawsuit filed by two Rensselaer County men challenges the states requirement that gun owners must have a justifiable reason referred to as proper cause to get a concealed carry permit. Permit applicants must now state why they have a need to carry a gun in public. For example, it could be because they have been threatened or their job places them in danger.

The Rensselaer County men are making the case that applicants should not have to give a reason for why they want to carry a concealed gun in public. They argue they have that right under the Second Amendment.

The court could rule a number of ways, ranging from throwing out the requirement, keeping it entirely or limiting it to certain places.

The ruling is expected this court term which ends late June or early July. It will mark the first time in more than a decade that the nations top court will decide a major Second Amendment case.

The decision will be made at a time when the court has become more conservative and is considered sympathetic to gun rights.

Republican President Donald Trump appointed three of the nine justices to the bench during his term. That is thought to have resulted in an ideological shift in the court. A leaked draft opinion recently revealed the new court is poised to reverse Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established abortion rights.

Since 2019, 4,332 gun permit applications have been submitted in Onondaga County. About 90 percent of them have been granted, according to a sheriffs office spokesman. The sheriffs office does not track how many are concealed carry permit applications.

A statewide analysis submitted by the states defense team to the Supreme Court found that 65% of applications for unrestricted concealed carry were approved in 2018 and 2019.

The impact of the decision will reach beyond New York. Seven other states have a similar law. The eight states govern 80 million people.

The decision would follow 40 years of state-level legislative rollbacks of concealed carry regulation in the United States. Since 1981, the number of states with a law similar to New York has decreased by more than two-thirds, according to a review of state-level gun laws by SUNY Cortland professor Robert J. Spitzer.

The next-day ramifications of striking down this gun law would be greater than the next-day ramifications for any other Second Amendment case that the Supreme Court has decided, said Eric Ruben, a Second Amendment expert and assistant law professor at Southern Methodist University.

Locally, law enforcement officials dont expect the decision will affect the policing of guns or safety.

I think (the court is) going to take the narrowest route possible, said Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.

He said most local gun crimes do not involve weapons for which owners have a concealed permit. Most guns recovered by officers are stolen, come from states with less restrictive purchasing laws or are guns without serial numbers and cant be traced, he said.

Police already deal with legally and illegally owned guns, said North Syracuse Police Chief William Becker, the secretary for the Central New York Chiefs of Police Association.

Two experts contend a decision to strike down the law could have greater implications beyond who can and cant carry a concealed weapon in New York. Such a decision could create an atmosphere in which other gun restrictions come under scrutiny.

We will see more states laws struck down, predicted Susan Liebell, a professor at St. Josephs University whose work focuses on law and gun rights.

She and Ruben said striking down the law could invite legal challenges to New Yorks SAFE Act, which broadened the definition of an assault weapons, required background checks for ammunition sales, forced gun owners to report when their guns were lost or stolen within a day and required mental health professionals to report patients to police if they believe the patient is likely to harm others.

Ruben said other laws that could come under attack place restrictions on magazine capacity, impose zoning requirements for shooting ranges and limit the possession of firearms by those who have been deemed mentally ill or have past convictions.

The two experts were interviewed before a gunman this month killed 10 people and wounded three others in a grocery store in Buffalo. After the mass shooting, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will push for tougher gun legislation.

The two men behind the concealed-carry case, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, initially sued a Rensselaer licensing officer and then-Superintendent of the New York State Police George P. Beach II because their applications for concealed carry permits were denied.

In New York, concealed carry is governed by the Sullivan Act, which requires that New Yorkers establish proper cause to carry a concealed weapon. The law was passed in 1911.

Nash appealed the decision by the licensing office, citing his need for self-protection because of a string of robberies in his neighborhood. His appeal was denied.

Koch separately argued that he had taken the proper safety courses to have the gun and should be issued a concealed carry permit.

Both men are members of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association and together sued Beach and the licensing officer in federal court in 2018. They lost when a judge cited a 2012 decision in a federal lawsuit that determined the Sullivan Act did not infringe on a gun owners Second Amendment rights.

A federal appeals court upheld the decision.

The pair then appealed to the Supreme Court which agreed in April 2021 to hear the case.

Ruben and Liebell listened as oral arguments were heard in November 2021. They believe it is likely New Yorks law will at least be partially struck down based on the justices questions and prior rulings.

It did not seem that there was a majority of the court in favor of upholding New Yorks law, Ruben said.

She said justices could leave room for state or local governments to impose restrictions in a few places.

Justice Clarence Thomas, for instance, asked if Koch and Nash wanted to carry their guns into a larger city, like New York City. The justices also asked if concealed guns could be carried into places like Times Square or the campuses of New York and Columbia universities.

That indicated to Liebell and Ruben the justices were open to treating densely populated areas differently.

Its possible to strike it down, but then make clear that the state can still restrict the carrying of firearms in subways or other places that might present security concerns, Ruben said.

But he said, there are a lot of permutations and its impossible, based on the two-hour oral argument, to speculate.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati by phone at 585-290-0718 or by email at clibonati@syracuse.com.

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Supreme Court to rule soon on Upstate NY case that could make it easier to carry guns across US - syracuse.com