Case Summary
Contrary to the natural rights of the People, as protected by the Second Amendment, ordinary citizens of New York are unable to carry firearms for self-defense outside the home.
Instead, the state’s permitting scheme requires an applicant to show “proper cause” for state permission to carry. This term is left undefined in the law itself, and interpreted by state courts to exclude residents simply concerned for their personal safety. New Yorkers must convince state officials that they have a “special need” to bear arms outside the home, and this standard is interpreted to exclude almost everyone.
The Supreme Court will hear the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association’s challenge to this denial of gun rights during the 2021-22 term. The result will likely be the Court’s first major firearms decision in over a decade.
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A Win For Liberty
Case History
New York has a longstanding ban on bearing arms outside the home, with narrow exceptions for those who can meet the state’s extremely restrictive licensing standards. Personal defense is not considered a sufficient reason to issue the license.
Robert Nash cited several robberies in his neighborhood, and his advanced training in gun safety, in applying for a license to carry. Brendan Koch’s application cited his broad experience and training in gun safety and use. Both applications were denied for supposedly lacking “proper cause.” Many members of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA) are likewise unable to exercise their self-defense rights in public under this standard.
NYSRPA, Nash, and Koch brought a federal lawsuit in February 2018 against New York’s Police Superintendent and a local licensing officer, challenging the state’s “proper cause” requirement on Second Amendment grounds.
In the District Court, NYSRPA argued that the earlier Second Circuit case of Kachalsky v. County of Westchester—which upheld New York’s handgun licensing scheme against a constitutional challenge in 2012—was wrongly decided. NYSRPA cited the D.C. Circuit’s Wrenn v. District of Columbia decision, in which a restrictive licensing law similar to New York’s was struck down because “the law-abiding citizen’s right to bear common arms must enable the typical citizen to carry a gun.”
Nonetheless, the District Court found Kachalsky still applicable and dismissed NYSRPA’s complaint in December 2018. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, in August 2020, on the same basis.
NYSRPA filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2020. In its petition, the question presented to the Court was: “Whether the Second Amendment allows the government to prohibit ordinary law-abiding citizens from carrying handguns outside the home for self-defense.”
On April 26, 2021, the petition was granted. The Court, however, has limited the question to: “Whether the State’s denial of petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated the Second Amendment.”
