NY is About to Get Another Gun Law Shakeup

The next term of the Supreme Court will begin on October 6th, and many high profile cases are expected to be heard. Few, however, will be watched with as much anticipation as the handful of Second Amendment cases that could be taken up by the court this term.

Ever since the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller decision, where the court affirmed an individual’s right to own firearms, that efforts to ban guns must have historical precedent, and can not be applied to commonly owned arms, the gun control supporters have been scrambling to find any way possible to restrict the ability of lawabiding citizens to exercise their constitutional rights.

In the years following Heller there were a number of laws passed in California, New York, and other liberal states, that enshrined into state law a legal definition for guns that had previously been referred to as “assault weapons” in a cynical but clever attempt to make people afraid of normal semiautomatic guns. Detachable magazines were one feature that these firearms had in common, and they were limited in most cases to a ten round capacity.

There are currently ten states and the District of Columbia that have some kind of an assault weapon ban and fourteen states plus D.C. that have a ban on what they refer to as high capacity magazines (usually those that hold more than ten rounds).

And, as is normal in this country, multiple lawsuits have been filed challenging these laws in all these liberal jurisdictions for violating the people’s Second Amendment rights. And these cases have been working their way through the lower courts for many years now. Of course, liberal states tend to have liberal judges, so the final decisions that will come from SCOTUS are highly anticipated.

Last October, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in NAGR v. Lamont, a challenge to Connecticut’s ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. The Third Circuit recently heard oral arguments in Association of N.J. Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Platkin, also challenging NJ’s ban on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. And the Ninth Circuit recently ruled on Duncan v. Bonta, overturning a lower court decision to uphold California’s ban on large capacity magazines.

The Ninth Circuit tried to have it both ways, assuming a potential reversal by SCOTUS, claiming that the part of firearm that holds the bullets is not protected by the 2A and therefore no constitutional right to own them exists, they also claimed that should SCOTUS rule otherwise that they satisfied the burden of demonstrating a national tradition of protecting citizens from especially dangerous uses of firearms.

New York has the Secure Ammunition Firearms Enforcement Act (SAFE Act) of 2013, which also established bans on guns classified as assault weapons and large capacity magazines. NY originally set the magazine capacity limit at seven rounds, but magazines that small didn’t exist for most guns, so they were forced to change the limit to ten rounds.

NY is also pushing to establish a roster of mandated features for firearms through its recently formed State Office of Gun Violence Prevention, that many claim are aimed only at making guns more expensive and more difficult for law abiding citizens to purchase.

All these barriers to lawful gun ownership in NY could come crashing down in the next SCOTUS term or two, assuming that a majority of Justices rule as expected, in favor of the people’s right to keep and bear arms.

This would leave egg on the faces of those pushing a strong gun control/ban agenda in NY just as the state heads into what could be a contentious election year. Mainstream Democrats will feel the heat from the growing group of socialists in their party on one side and on the other from the voters around the state who mostly support basic gun rights.