How Blue States Work Around SCOTUS To Restrict Gun Rights

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Second Amendment debate is academic for many Americans—speculation with friends over what-if scenarios and the concept of God-given rights.

On Oct. 7, those rights hit home for Adam Edelman (not his real name) and others in New York’s Jewish community, who were horrified by the Hamas terror attack on Israel and the massacre of 1,200 people.

Then, days later, while he was sitting in his small business outside New York City, pro-Palestinian protestors were marching just miles from his office.

He began recalling his grandparents', aunts', and uncles’ accounts of the beginning of the Holocaust. And how he could protect his family in a state that restricts his Second Amendment rights.

Mr. Edelman spoke with The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of concern for his family’s safety.

“Well, look, the parallels are there. They’re openly screaming ‘Death to Jews,’” Mr. Edelman told The Epoch Times. “If they had a chance, they would eradicate all the Jews. They would do it.”

Gun rights activists hailed the June 23, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen that citizens have a constitutional right to carry a gun in public for self-defense.

They see the decision as the bookend to the 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Since Bruen, 27 states have adopted so-called constitutional carry laws, which allow law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm without a license.

But not all legislatures celebrated.

In many blue states, where strict gun laws are the norm, legislatures took the opposite path. California, Oregon, Illinois, Washington, and other states implemented more firearms restrictions or refitted existing laws to the new standard.

Washington, Illinois, and Delaware joined the seven other states that banned certain types of semi-automatic rifles, so-called assault weapons.

Other states added prohibitions on where guns could be legally carried, expanding their lists of “sensitive places.”

The centerpiece of New York’s reaction to Bruen was the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), announced on Aug. 31, 2022.

The CCIA increased the training required for a license, expanded the number of places where concealed carry was prohibited, made in-person interviews and a review of an applicant's social media accounts mandatory, and reduced the license recertification period from five years to three years.

The state set up a website to explain the new law.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office didn't respond to an interview request. But in a July 1 speech touting a law mandating background checks for ammunition purchases, Ms. Hochul said New Yorkers’ Second Amendment rights would be protected.

“We know this has nothing to do with lawful gun owners, nothing to do with them at all. These are people who have been convicted of felonies or other categories of people that should be prohibited from firearms and ammunition,” she said.

Mr. Edelman said that the restrictions have turned out to have much to do with law-abiding citizens.

He is a federal firearms license holder, gun dealer, and New York state and NRA firearms instructor. He said that since the Oct. 7 attacks, demands for his firearms license class have increased as the threats from protestors have overridden the political leanings of many in the Jewish community.

“I live in a very, very liberal area. A lot of those people are coming to me like, ‘What do we need to protect the house?’ These are the people who never thought they would ever need to buy a gun,” Mr. Edelman said.

Being new to firearms and the laws that apply to them, Mr. Edelman’s students are often surprised at the hoops through which they must jump simply to own a gun. The state requirements can appear daunting, and the process can take anywhere from a few months to years to complete.

As the process plays out, Jewish applicants will be left unarmed as their enemies march, Mr. Edelman said.

“There are a number of laws that are really precluding law-abiding citizens from first acquiring firearms and exercising their right to defend themselves,” Mr. Edelman said.

The city of Peekskill is in the hills on the east bank of the Hudson River, about 10 miles south of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and 43 miles north of New York City.

At 1000 Division Street in Peekskill, The Hat Factory houses a milk distribution company, a yoga studio, and Donahoo Consulting, among other businesses, offices, and art studios.

Steve Donahoo, owner of Donahoo Consulting, is a retired New York City police officer. He’s a gregarious, outgoing man who jokes that if a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind, then he "must be healthy.”

Like Mr. Edelman, Mr. Donahoo is an NRA-certified instructor and teaches the New York state licensing course. And, like Mr. Edelman, he often has to encourage students to persevere through a licensing process that may seem interminable.

Mr. Donahoo pointed out that the state-required training is only the first step.

Each county and New York City has additional requirements. Failure to comply with them can put the entire process on hold.

He recounted the story of one student whose county required that all application forms downloaded from the internet be printed on both sides of the page. The student printed his forms on one side of each page and was told by county officials he could reapply again in a year.

“It's a big commitment to get a pistol license nowadays,” Mr. Donahoo said.

And it’s a big commitment to keep one.

Both men said that New York has no stand-your-ground law, or castle doctrine. Licensed gun owners still have a legal duty to retreat, even in their homes. A firearm is considered a means of last resort. Even then, the state often doesn't recognize an individual’s right to self-defense.

At one point, the co-op board president felt threatened. He drew his licensed firearm and asked the man to leave, which he did. Mr. Edelman said no shots were fired and no one was injured in the nonviolent confrontation.

The co-op board president was arrested and charged with a crime. Mr. Edelman uses the incident in his class to warn his students.

“Know that you will be arrested, there will be charges filed against you, it doesn't matter if you did it in self-defense or not. This is the state we live in,” Mr. Edelman said.

The owner of a liquor store in North Tonawanda, New York, discovered that New York firearms regulations could cost him his livelihood even when there is no gunplay.

For Ian Brennan, the issue isn’t about self-defense, though he does support the right to carry. The 30-something business owner has always collected unique or unusual firearms, especially antiques.

“I'm a really big fan of history and everything like that.” Mr. Brennan told The Epoch Times as he pointed to the 1857 muzzleloader on the wall above the cash register at Yankee Spirits.

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