Buffalo, NY (WBEN) A federal judge in Syracuse has issued a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of several parts of New York's new concealed carry gun law. The issue could end up going to the Supreme Court where a decision may not come for some time.
Judge Glenn Suddaby of the U.S. District Court in Syracuse issued the injunction as Gun Owners of America continue their challenge of the law claiming it's unconstitutional. Monday's injunction blocks New York from enforcing elements like requiring applicants to prove their "good moral character," disclose social media handles, and information on those who live with them.
Attorney Paul Cambria says those elements don't make sense. "The social media part goes way too far. And I don't see that standing up. And as far as some of the places where you can't have guns, I think that they have overstepped their bounds on those as well," says Cambria.
Cambria says there are some elements that do make sense. "I definitely think all the background checks are appropriate. As far as whether you have a record or you have any kind of mental illness or violence in your past and so on. The problem is when you say to someone, you have to prove basically a negative, that you're neutral, that you're not unfit. That's where the Supreme Court came down and said, Well, you can't do that," explains Cambria.
Jack O'Donnell of O'Donnell and Associates says some gun advocates think parts of the law went too far. "It was rushed to rush to the law books as much for election signaling and and and politics as it was for for pure public safety," says O'Donnell.
O'Donnell says there are a couple appeals from this. "I expect those will happen. And then, I think it may go as well to the federal courts," and he says it may take some time before there's a final answer. "If we go to the Supreme Court, we can be talking a couple of years really," notes O'Donnell. He says the short answer is it will not be quick
