By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling which declared New York State’s ban against carry on private property open to the public is unconstitutional, ruling 2-1 in favor of the original decision by District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr.
However, the panel also granted summary judgment in favor of the state regarding the Public Parks provision “concluding that it is facially constitutional because it is relevantly similar to the historical analogues proffered by the State.”
The case, known as Christian v. James, was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition and a private citizen, Brett Christian.
Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco, a 2019 Donald Trump appointee, wrote, “We conclude that the Private Property Provision, as applied to private property open to the public, is unconstitutional because the State did not carry its burden of demonstrating that the restriction falls within our Nation’s historical tradition of gun regulations, as required under the framework set forth in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). On the other hand, we conclude that the Public Parks Provision survives Plaintiffs’ facial challenge because the State has carried its burden of showing that regulation is consistent with our Nation’s historical tradition of banning gun possession in urban public parks. Finally, we decline to address any as-applied challenge to the Public Parks Provision, to the extent it applies to rural parks, because Plaintiffs failed to raise that challenge in the district court. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the permanent injunction against the Private Property Provision, as applied to private property open to the public, and AFFIRM the judgment in favor of the State on the Public Parks Provision.”
Concurring in part and dissenting in part, Circuit Judge Steven J. Menashi, also a 2019 Trump appointee, wrote, “I disagree with the majority that the Public Parks Provision, N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01-e(2)(d), is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation. Regulations during the founding period restricted the misuse of firearms and the manner of carriage but did not prohibit carriage in public parks or other places reserved for recreation and public gatherings. The majority disregards this history on the ground that contemporary public parks are so different from founding-era public parks that the principles of firearms regulation from the founding period cannot be applied to current circumstances. Instead, the majority identifies a regulatory tradition of restricting the carriage of firearms in parks that emerged in the late nineteenth century.”
The original lawsuit was filed in September 2022.
