Unraveling New York’s Gun Control Maze

In the most important gun case since McDonald, the US Supreme COurt takes on NYC’s malwviolent restrictions.

A headline in Reason magazine said it all: “Have Gun, Can’t Travel.” That’s the plight of New York City “premises licensees” under one of the most bizarre and oppressive gun control laws in the nation.

In January, the high court agreed to review a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholding the regulation against a challenge under the Second Amendment and other constitutional provisions. The case is New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York.

Should the court resolve the case on Second Amendment grounds, it will be the first time since McDonald v. City of Chicago in 2010 that the Supreme Court applied that provision to a gun control law.

New York City’s handgun laws are a case study of the strange and often contradictory thinking of the nation’s most fervent gun control advocates.

The system is designed to make obtaining the license necessary to acquire and own handguns as difficult and expensive as possible for the ordinary applicant.

It dates back to the enactment of New York’s Sullivan Act in 1911 when its proponents—including The New York Times—openly promoted it as a way to keep firearms out of the hands of Italian immigrants.

Consistent with this discriminatory outlook, the law allows licensing officials a wide degree of discretion in determining who possesses the requisite “good moral character” and, in some cases, “proper cause” for a license.

… in reality, the only applicants who can get a New York City carry license are the rich and famous or the especially well connected. The licensing system has repeatedly spawned corruption scandals and prosecutions over the years.

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