Under the twisted vision of the Supreme Court majority, states and localities are now barred from deciding who can get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. While it’s allowed to ban felons, require training and the like, six justices’ absolutist interpretation of the Second Amendment rules out requiring people to show a specific need to be armed in public. That will soon leave police facing a fresh flood of gun-wielding people on New York City’s streets, above and beyond the thousands of illegal weapons already being recovered as shootings surge.
Lest we leave our cops and civilians defenseless, New York leaders must push back — which is thankfully what three top pols did this week.
Credit first goes to Attorney General Tish James and Mayor Eric Adams. Their simultaneously filed city and state lawsuits, relying on purchases over many years by undercover investigators, accuse gun distributors of evading the law by willfully delivering thousands of banned “ghost gun” firearm components to New Yorkers over many years, without serial numbers on them or a background check on their purchasers. James’ and Adams’ aim is true: The documentation of brazen illegality, including the breaking of New York’s relatively new statute deeming gun makers and distributors liable for the harm they cause when they irresponsibly market their products, is exhaustive.
This necessary labor in the courts must be complemented by smart new laws, robustly enforced. The extraordinary legislative session called by Gov. Kathy Hochul looks to far more broadly designate “sensitive places” where concealed carry will be barred, including creating a presumption that concealed carry will not be allowed in private businesses; to toughen up safe-storage laws; to require a permit for the purchase of ammunition; and to build a new system of strong but legally bulletproof requirements for getting a concealed-carry permit. Good going on all counts.
The Supreme Court openly dismisses the notion that rising gun violence, including mass shootings, can be a legitimate rationale for states to restrict the concealed carry of firearms. Six justices can be willfully obtuse; New York’s top elected officials must keep their eyes wide open.
