New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen
09.21.21
Everytown Law files amicus brief supporting New York’s concealed carry licensing law.
Courts: United States Supreme Court (NYSRPA v. Bruen, NYSRPA v. Corlett); Second Circuit (NYSRPA v. Beach); Northern District of New York (NYSRPA v. Beach)
Issue at Stake: Public carrying of firearms outside the home
Summary: NYSRPA v. Bruen is a case brought by the NRA’s New York affiliate challenging the state’s concealed carry licensing law as a violation of the Second Amendment. Under New York’s law, an applicant for a concealed carry license must show a non-speculative need to carry a handgun in public, for self-defense or other purposes, before being issued a license to do so.
Everytown for Gun Safety’s brief focuses on rebutting key parts of the NRA’s historical arguments. Everytown’s brief discusses the centuries-long history in both England and the United States of regulating the carrying of weapons in public to protect public peace. It then goes on to discuss why the NRA’s view of history is based on a misreading of the relevant sources. The brief explains that gun safety measures like New York’s law “enjoy an almost singularly impressive historical lineage among firearms regulations.”
Everytown previously filed an amicus brief in the underlying case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Beach, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The district court rejected the Second Amendment challenge based on existing circuit precedent. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit summarily affirmed. The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari and will review the Second Circuit’s decision.
Other Analysis: In a recent report, Everytown highlighted problems with the Petitioners’ claims that prominent members of the founding generation carried guns.
Case Documents
Press Releases
Everytown to Supreme Court: NRA Affiliate’s Case Rests on Distorted Telling of History
Everytown Brief: NRA’s Historical Interpretation ‘Selective, Skewed, And Incorrect’; New York Law Constitutional Under an Originalist Approach NEW YORK –…
Everytown Law Responds After Supreme Court Says it Will Hear Appeal in Challenge to New York Gun Safety Law
NEW YORK — Everytown Law, the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, today released the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court…
In the SCOTUS Case Over New York’s Gun Law, New Everytown Analysis Casts Doubt on Petitioners’ Claims About Founders and Firearms
On November 3, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a case challenging the constitutionality…
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