Indianapolis, IN – The National Police Association (NPA) filed an amicus brief in support of a Preliminary Injunction against New York state’s “Concealed Carry Improvement Act” (CCIA).
The lawsuit was filed by Ivan Antonyuk and Gun Owners of America.
In a quick response to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen, the state of New York passed a comprehensive gun control law, CCIA, that will eviscerate 2nd Amendment civil rights in New York if enacted.
Contrary to the decision by SCOTUS the new law prohibits permitted concealed carry in most public places and creates scenarios where carrying concealed can be an unknowing violation of the law. Further, the new law replaces the subjective standard of having to prove a special need for 2nd Amendment rights, which was struck down by the court, with the subjective standard of having to prove possession of the moral character needed for 2nd Amendment rights. Moral as defined by who?
If allowed to go into place as law, the Second Amendment will be a legal fiction in the fourth most populous state in our union, even though the nation’s highest court just told us all, explicitly, that the Second Amendment is not a legal fiction but a full partner with the other “Bill of Rights” guarantees such as freedom of speech.
While firearms in the wrong hands are a serious concern for law enforcement, unconstitutionally keeping firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens seeking to provide for the safety of themselves and their loved ones is just as bad. While the National Police Association supports the police, it does not support a police state, where law-abiding citizens are at minimum prevented from self-defense and at maximum turned into criminals by way of vague and unconstitutional laws.
The CCIA is bad for safety; it is bad for public policy; it is bad for law enforcement; it is bad for the rule of law. Most importantly it is patently unconstitutional and the Plaintiff’s sought declaratory and injunctive relief should be granted in advance of the flawed act’s enactment date.
NPA spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith stated, “A number of studies suggest that objective concealed carry regimes, and not the subjective, arbitrary regime put in place by the CCIA—can both lower violent crime and reduce the number of officer fatalities in many jurisdictions.” For this reason, plus those articulated in the Plaintiffs, Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction, the NPA supports Plaintiffs’ effort to have this Court declare the CCIA unconstitutional under the text of the Second Amendment and the principles recently articulated in Bruen.
The National Police Association is represented by Robert S. Lafferrandre of Pierce Couch Hendrickson Baysinger & Green, L.L.P., of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The NPA’s amicus brief can be read here: https://nationalpolice.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Amicus-Curiae-Brief-of-National-Police-Association-in-ANTONYUK-GUN-OWNERS-OF-AMERICA-v-BRUEN.pdf
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