The Supreme Court rejected a request from a group of New York gun retailers on Wednesday to block a number of new laws regulating the sale of guns in the state.
The gun retailers argued that the laws violated their Second Amendment rights and hurt their businesses.
The Court denied the request in a one-line order with no noted dissents or explanations from the justices.
“We are disappointed that not one of the nine justices saw fit to grant the plaintiffs some stay of enforcement of the new laws against them,” Paloma Capanna, the lead attorney for the New York gun retailers, told Fox News.
“We are challenging the ability of the state of New York to target dealers in firearms in the lawful stream of commerce, to put them out of business, which is what the new laws will do,” Capanna said. “So, it really was unfortunate to see that we couldn’t get any emergency temporary injunction against those laws.”
The request was denied just days after the Court similarly refused a request to block an appeals court ruling that allowed New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) to stay in place. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito joined in a separate statement that the Court’s denial was not “expressing any view on the merits of the case.”
Their statement noted that the Supreme Court would respect the procedures of the 2nd Circuit but underscored that the New York law “presents novel and serious questions under both the First and the Second Amendments.”
New York lawmakers passed the act after the Supreme Court struck down a state law that placed limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home in June 2022 in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.
Justice Thomas wrote in that opinion for the court that “the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”
New York’s new law prohibits carrying a gun in “sensitive areas,” such as stadiums, houses of worship, museums, parks, and other public places. It also imposes revised record-keeping and new safety requirements on retailers. The law also mandates background checks on all ammunition purchases and training for obtaining a concealed carry license.
The group of licensed firearms dealers suing the state said they have not been in compliance with the law since December 5, putting the future of their storefronts in legal jeopardy.
Capanna argued that new record-keeping laws could amount to an unconstitutional gun registry.
“The list of new mandatory compliance even goes so far as a turnover of acquisition and disposition records … which the state of New York attorneys have admitted will be used to create the first-ever gun owners registry housed at the New York State Police,” Capanna said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, praised the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Gun safety laws help save lives, and keep our state safer,” she said.
The new gun restrictions still face other legal challenges in lower courts.
