NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday that she hopes to sign legislation by the end of the week responding to last week's Supreme Court ruling that struck down New York state’s century-old law limiting concealed carry permits for guns.
“We’ve been preparing for the possibility that they would take away our rights,” Hochul told WCBS 880’s Wayne Cabot and Paul Murnane after she sealed the Democratic nomination for governor. “It’s extraordinary that they would do this, but they did. And I’ve been having conversations with legal experts and advocacy groups and legislators, and we’re prepared.”
“We have a bill in place,” the governor continued. “The legislature is going to be discussing it tonight. Tomorrow they’ll vote on it. And I’m hoping I’m signing it by close of business or very early morning hours on Friday.”
New York has a number of options after the Supreme Court struck down its concealed carry law, including adding new permitting conditions, such as requiring firearm training or a mental health evaluation, or disqualifying applicants with certain types of criminal convictions.
“The Supreme Court said we cannot ban them, but what we can do is say you have to have in-person training at a firing range, and background checks, and consider more factors,” Hochul told WCBS 880.
Lawmakers could also pass a law specifying where people can’t carry concealed weapons — a list that could include public transit systems, school zones, bars, parks, government offices or polling places.
Hochul told 1010 WINS' Newsline With Brigitte Quinn that she’ll announce a package of reforms Wednesday before the legislature convenes a special session in Albany Thursday to address the issue.
Asked where the state may ban concealed guns in New York City, Hochul said the list is “going to be very comprehensive.”
“The Supreme Court was clear that we cannot have a complete ban on places like Manhattan—they said that in their decision—so we’re working to identify more likely the places they can be, because we’re going to have an exhaustive list of places,” the governor said.
“We want to make sure that places like schools and places of worship and where children gather and large gatherings in public places,” Hochul said of potential weapons-free zones.
The governor also wants to let businesses “know that they have rights to protect themselves.”
“Name a restaurant in New York City that’s going to want to have someone come in with concealed carry,” she told 1010 WINS. “So I want to empower the business people who have property rights to be able to say, ‘No.’”
Hochul will face GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin in the general election this fall. Zeldin has sided with the Supreme Court in its decision to quash New York’s concealed carry law.
“We need to start separating between law-abiding gun owners and criminals, and painting everybody with one, broad brush is the way to make really bad and unconstitutional policy,” Zeldin told 1010 WINS on Wednesday.
Zeldin noted Hochul’s high favorability rating with the National Rifle Association when she was a U.S. representative, calling her a “walking identity crisis.”
“I believe the Supreme Court made the correct decision,” Zeldin said. “New York’s concealed carry law was unconstitutional. And if a law-abiding citizen wants to safely and securely carry a firearm for their personal self-defense, that is very different from a criminal, who by the way didn’t care about the law when it was on the books.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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