On July 1, 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed S51001 into law, amending New York’s gun laws, which among other things, implemented an expansive new ban on areas where a person could lawfully carry a handgun – many of which were previously unregulated.
Among the new “sensitive locations,” New York designated “any place of worship or religious observation” as a place where ordinary citizens, with permits to carry firearms, could no longer carry. As a result, individuals who previously carried in places of worship were prohibited from doing so under penalty of criminal prosecution, fines, and incarceration.
On October 13, 2022, the Second Amendment Foundation, filed suit with one other civil rights organizations, and two individuals (a Reverend and a Bishop), challenging New York’s ban on carrying firearms in places of worship. The lawsuit asks a federal court to declare the carry ban unconstitutional as it infringes upon the Second and Fourteenth Amendments and enjoin the Defendants from enforcing the ban.
Case Team: Nicolas J. Rotsko, Sam Williams, David H. Thompson, Peter A Patterson, John W. Tienken
Case Documents
To access all of the case documents at the District Court, please visit the docket.
To view documents filed on appeal, please visit the Court of Appeals docket.
Case Media