Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling to strike down one of New York's oldest gun laws, changes are coming when it comes to people applying for a pistol permit or concealed carry permit.
The century-old gun law that was struck down on Thursday required anyone applying for a license to carry a concealed weapon in public to demonstrate a particular need for carrying a gun. The decision now gives New Yorkers and other Americans the right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, which is likely to lead more people to apply to be legally armed.
"You say to yourself, well, how is that going to impact the Erie County Clerk's office? What will this mean for the licensing officer, Judge [William] Boller, talking about discretion to deny an application for a concealed carry permit, for failing to provide justification for why such a permit is needed by the application? I think there are a lot of questions based on the ruling," said Erie County Clerk, Mickey Kearns of the ruling.
With this decision handed down by the Supreme Court, the biggest change coming for people applying for a concealed carry permit will be the elimination of Penal Law 400.00 in New York State.
"You're still going to have to apply, very similar to like you did in the past, and the judges still have some objectivity under licensing requirements, but they can no longer discriminate against Joe Jastrzemski, who wants to come in and apply for a concealed permit because he wants to protect himself. They can't discriminate against that requirement any longer," said Niagara County Clerk Joe Jastrzemski on the change in protocol. "Joe Jastrzemski would be able to get a concealed license permit to carry a handgun."
With the changes coming to the accessibility of concealed carry permits and pistol permits in the state and the country, some Second Amendment advocates are calling for the County Clerk's Office to expand their staffing and also provide satellite locations to process more pistol permits.
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With the call to Kearns' office, in particular, advocates believe the changes should allow the County Clerk's Office staff to run the background checks on permit applicants, and if they clear the background check, they should be getting a permit on the spot. Kearns, however, says that's not how that is going to work in the end.
"Remember, the Clerk's Office is ministerial, meaning we accept the paperwork," Kearns explained. "The best analogy I can use is if you came in here to 92 Franklin and you said, 'Hey, Mickey, I want to get a new passport.' We take the paperwork and for your passport, and we accept it, but we don't process that. That goes to the Passport Agency. That's our partner, we have a partnership with them. So it's the same thing.
"Depending upon the judge's determination - in the end, the judge will make that final determination - under the statute, they are the licensing officer. What that means is he's been given the authority to license you to have a permit. So under New York State, you need a permit for a pistol. So this will be something that I think we need to look at, and I want to make sure that before we move in any direction that we meet with the licensing officer."
With the decision from the Supreme Court still being very fresh, both Kearns and Jastrzemski admit there are elements of this decision that are unclear until they get some explanation. However, Kearns says he's expected to meet with Judge Boller some time this week.
"As the Erie County Clerk, we accept the application, we process the paperwork, and then it goes to the Sheriff or the proper police agency to do a background check. And then finally, it will go to Judge Boller, the licensing officer, according to the statute," Kearns said. "I'm looking forward to meeting with him, and see what his suggestions and recommendations are, and how that will impact our office."
So what other concerns do Kearns and Jastrzemski have regarding the decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday?
For the Niagara County Clerk, Jastrzemski knows this process will still take some time before they get more concrete answers. The decision made by the Supreme Court still has go back to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Another question Jastrzemski brings up for discussion regards the handling of somebody that doesn't have a concealed permit but already has a pistol permit.
"If you're a pistol permit holder who does not have a concealed permit, do you automatically get the privilege to have a concealed permit?" Jastrzemski asked. "There are people, they might not have applied for a concealed permit. I mean, those are some of my questions. How are we going to handle pistol permit holders that don't have a concealed permit at this time going forward?"
As for Kearns, with the expected increase in people applying for their permits going forward, his concern lies in the ability to process all the paperwork to ensure people of their Second Amendment rights.
"From the standpoint of the Clerk's Office, we process the paperwork. We've been doing that, we've been doing it efficiently. We went from 2,000 applications up to nearly [6,500-7,000] last year," Kearns said. "I look at this as how we can make sure that we [process] paperwork efficiently, make sure that people get their Second Amendment right done in an efficient, safe, quick manner, and we'll continue to do that, working cooperatively with the Sheriff and with the judge."
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday she is bringing state lawmakers back for "an extraordinary session of the Legislature" on Thursday to consider gun safety legislation in response to the Supreme Court's decision. Hochul has been quite outspoken about the Court's decision, calling it a “reckless and reprehensible” decision.
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Both Kearns and Jastrzemski have heard Hochul's comments about the Supreme Court's ruling striking down the state's restrictive gun law the way it did. While they don't know what changes are expected to come in the near future, they believe it'll all be in the hands of the State Legislature and what they come up with going forward.
"They may add new or objective criteria to the statute, but they are the Legislature, they can do that. Those new things that they may add must be met in order to obtain a concealed carry permit. So the legislature is going to have a say in this," Kearns said.
"Right now, it's a fresh decision. It's a new decision, and I think having the judge and his expertise and working with him collectively, and working with the Sheriff will be important, because we want to make sure that we're giving correct information to the public."