A Manhattan federal judge has ruled provisions to New York City’s gun restrictions as unconstitutional, pushing back on requirements that say those applying for permits must prove they have “good moral character.”
Judge John P. Cronan filed the ruling on Thursday night, arguing the city law violated the Constitution’s 2nd and 14th amendments. The lawsuit was filed last year by Brooklyn resident Joseph Srour, who was seeking a permit to have various guns in his home, but was denied in 2019 due to prior arrests, bad driving history and supposedly false statements on applications, Cronan’s ruling says.
Srour’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
“Each of these provisions allows for the denial of a firearm permit upon a City official’s determination of the applicant’s lack of ‘good moral character’ or upon the official’s finding of ‘other good cause’ — broad and unrestrained discretionary standards which Defendants have not shown to have any historical underpinning in our country,” the ruling says. “And because that unconstitutional exercise of discretion occurs every time a licensing official applies or has applied these provisions, they each are facially unconstitutional.”
The June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Bruen decision made it easier for people to obtain a permit to carry handguns in New York’s public spaces. State legislators subsequently passed a law called the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, restricting where even concealed carry permit holders may bring their weapons. That prompted legal challenges from Second Amendment supporters, who then filed multiple lawsuits since the new legislation passed.
“The constitutional infirmities identified herein lie not in the City’s decision to impose requirements for the possession of handguns, rifles, and shotguns,” Cronan writes in the ruling. “Rather, the provisions fail to pass constitutional muster because of the magnitude of discretion afforded to City officials in denying an…
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