The US supreme court is allowing New York to continue to enforce a sweeping new gun law banning guns from “sensitive places” such as schools and playgrounds, while a court challenge plays out.
The justices on Wednesday turned away a plea by the challengers to the law, gun owners who wanted the high court to lift a federal appeals court order that temporarily put on hold a lower court decision blocking portions of the law.
The appeals court has not finished its review of the case, a circumstance under which supreme court justices are often reluctant to weigh in. The justices could still consider the case and the law in the future.
New York lawmakers rewrote state handgun laws over the summer after a June supreme court ruling invalidated the old system for granting permits to carry handguns outside the home.
The ruling said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense, invalidating the New York law, which required people to show a specific need to get a license to carry a gun outside the home.
The ruling was a major expansion of gun rights nationwide and resulted in challenges to similar state laws.
The new law New York passed in the wake of the ruling broadly expanded who can get a license to carry a handgun but increased training requirements and required applicants to provide more information including a list of their social media accounts.
Applicants for a license must also demonstrate “good moral character”. The law also included a long list of “sensitive places” places where firearms are banned, including schools, playgrounds, places of worship, entertainment venues, places that serve alcohol and Times Square in New York City.
A US district judge, Glenn Suddaby, declared portions of the law unconstitutional and issued a preliminary injunction barring certain provisions’ enforcement.
The US court of appeals for the second circuit put that ruling on hold. Challengers to the law asked the supreme court to step in and allow Suddaby’s ruling to go into effect while the case continues.
