(Presidentialwire.com)- On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused a request by a group of New York firearms dealers who asked that the justices block New York State’s new gun laws from taking effect while their appeal of a lower court’s decision proceeds.
New York’s Democrat-led legislature went on a gun-control spree over the summer, passing a series of measures in June. Then after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s concealed carry law that month, the legislature passed a revised concealed carry law to replace it.
Nine individuals who sell firearms in upstate New York along with a gun collectors association sued the state in federal court challenging the state’s laws regulating the purchase of firearms.
Some of New York’s new gun control measures impact firearm retailers, such as requiring sales record-keeping and security alarms, while others affect individual gun owners, such as requiring background checks for the purchase of ammunition and training to obtain a concealed-carry license.
A federal judge refused to block any of the challenged laws, arguing among other things that the Second Amendment does not apply to businesses, only individuals.
Last month, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan also rejected the plaintiffs’ request to block the law ordering instead that their appeal is fast-tracked.
Last week, the Court rejected a separate request by members of a gun rights advocacy group to block much of the state’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act which was signed into law on July 1 to replace the law overturned by the Supreme Court.
In a statement issued with last week’s decision, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, said the court’s action was a procedural one and not based on the merits of the case. Alito said that the New York law “presents novel and serious questions” under both the First and Second Amendments.
New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act banned firearms in “sensitive locations,” including churches, private businesses like restaurants, bars, and movie theaters, as well as Times Square.
