New York governor's whacky conceal carry gun law after Supreme Court ruling
'Ammunition database', gun-free zones everywhere, 'sensitive areas' across Manhattan
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called an “extraordinary session” of the legislature for Thursday to pass her whacky version of a concealed carry gun law to sorta comply with the Supreme Court ruling last week. Her legislative package has gun-free zones on all private property, an “ammunition database” and “sensitive locations” covering all of Manhattan.
Hochul calls the decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, which affirms the right to bear arms outside the home, “horrific” and says it “added fuel to the fire,” which only she can now extinguish.
Hochul unveiled the details in a press conference Wednesday, which sounded more ridiculous as she went along. (I put the video below if you want to watch her.)
The law is based on the governor’s assumption that lawful carry permit holders are a danger to society. She explained her law like this:
Imagine someone you know talking to your girlfriend. You're not real happy about it and you have a gun and you have a temper, and that's what happens.
Hochul believes she has found a way to stop conceal carry permit holders from committing murder for talking to his girlfriend in a bar. (But self-control and respect for human life are not part of her package.)
Gun-free zones signs
“We're going to protect the rights of private property owners,” the governor said, and not “allow them to not have to be subjected to someone walking into their workplace or a bar, restaurant with a concealed weapon.”
She said there will be a “presumption” that “private property owners do not want to have concealed carry weapons on their premises.”
So in New York, law-abiding people with guns will not be able to go on any private property unless there is a literal sign in the window that says “concealed carry weapons welcome here.”
She referred to this as a “no open carry policy” — although it oddly has nothing to with open carry, which means not concealing your gun.
While she says her “presumption” is New York businesses don’t want carry holders to enter, her actual presumption is that conceal carry holders are a threat.
Why does she think law-abiding citizens who will go through an FBI background check and — according to her new law, 15 hours of in-person training and at a gun range — in order to get a concealed carry permit are dangerous to businesses?
Does she think they went through all those steps to then rob the 7-11? Or shoot the jerk at the bar?
“Sensitive locations”
Hochul seems to believe these dangerous legal permit holders need to be kept out of every part of society because she’s expanded so-called sensitive locations to cover what’s left of New York City. Conceal carry holders will also not be allowed in these places:
Federal state local government buildings
Health and medical facilities
Places where children gather, daycare centers
Parks
Zoos
Playgrounds
Public transportation - subways, buses
Polling places
Educational institutions
Since a concealed carry holder can’t walk across Central Park, take a bus or the subway, the governor has eliminated all modes of transportation to get across New York City. (She didn’t mention taxis, though she may consider them private business sites, which makes them gun-free zones.)
Ammunition database
Hochul was very excited about a new “ammunition database” that she said is “long overdue.”
She didn’t detail the record-keeping for her database but said citizens who try to buy ammunition will have to pass a background check and show their carry permits.
It sounds like the law in Washington, D.C. that only allows registered gun owners to possess ammunition. Remember, Mark Whitaschek was convicted in the District for possession of one shotgun shell because he had no guns registered with the city. He has suffered significantly since because of that terrible prosecution.
The Supreme Court Ruling
The governor believes her new law will stand up in court. She calls all of these provisions “sustainable”, which tells me she knows more lawsuits against the state are now inevitable.