On Tuesday, three plaintiffs challenging New York City’s gun control regime won a partial victory before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
This means their challenges to the Big Apple’s limits on how many handguns a person may acquire or carry and the mandatory 90-day wait between gun purchases may proceed. This followed a 2024 lower-court decision that dismissed the applicants’ case.
Panel rules lower court misapplied Bruen standard
The three-judge panel allowed the cases against NYC’s one-gun carry limit, the 90 days a person must wait between handgun purchases, and the limit of two pistols a person may list on a carry license to continue.
The appeals court determined the lower court erred in dismissing these three claims during the first step of the required Bruen analysis. Does the law in question align with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation or is it a modern outlier?
“Each of the activities at issue warrants an affirmative answer to that question,” U.S. District Judge Reena Raggi wrote in the appeals court’s opinion. “This is not to conclude that the challenged rules are necessarily unconstitutional. We hold simply that the constitutionality of these rules must be determined in the second step of the Bruen analysis, which requires the government to show that a challenged rule is consistent with our history.”
Suppression of rights to acquire firearms clearly violates 2A protections
Last year, plaintiff attorney Amy Belantoni presented oral arguments blasting New York City’s oppression of the ability to acquire a firearm. She noted that lacking that right, “then you have no possession and no carriage, you have no defense.”
The panel did not go all-in for the plaintiffs. Judges found the litigants lacked standing to challenge multiple facets of New York City’s gun control apparatus and also upheld the city’s $340 gun license fee charged every three years.
Most New York local governments cap that fee at $10.
There’s no better way to show your patriotism than with merch that speaks before you do.
Defend America is more than a name, it’s a stand for freedom, resilience, and the values this country was built on. Every tee, hat, and mug is a symbol of unapologetic pride. Wear it loud, wear it proud, and let the world know: freedom isn’t negotiable.
Click the link below to join the movement.