Second Circuit Revives Challenge to New York City Handgun Rules
A three-member appellate panel ruled that a lower court should not have dismissed challenges to three New York City handgun restrictions at the initial stage of the test established by the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. The case returns to the district court for further consideration; the appeals court left open whether the rules violate the Constitution.
The challenged provisions limit a person to carrying one handgun at a time, restrict handgun purchases to one every 90 days, and cap the number of handguns listed on a carry license at two. The NYPD repealed the license cap in August 2024. The panel said the activities covered by the remaining challenged rules fall within the Second Amendment’s protection and must be assessed against the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
New York City has argued that the purchase limit helps deter straw purchases. The panel’s ruling means the city must defend the challenged rules under the next stage of the Bruen test, requiring the government to demonstrate consistency with historical firearm regulations. The appeals court vacated the lower court’s dismissal of those claims and remanded them. A separate fee claim remains dismissed.
Second Circuit Sends NYC Gun Limits Back for Review
A Second Circuit panel has sent challenges to three New York City handgun restrictions back to district court, rejecting the lower court’s decision to dismiss them at the initial stage of the Supreme Court’s Bruen test. The appeals court did not strike down the rules, but said their constitutionality must be examined under the test’s historical-tradition standard.
The rules at issue limit carry to one handgun at a time, restrict purchases to one handgun every 90 days, and cap carry licenses at two handguns. The NYPD repealed the license cap in August 2024. New York City has said the purchase limit is intended to deter straw purchases, a concern the lower court had credited when it dismissed the case.
The decision puts the city’s restrictions under renewed constitutional scrutiny: the government must show that challenged rules fit the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The case now returns to the district court for that analysis. The panel left the separate fee claim dismissed and did not decide the ultimate constitutionality of the handgun rules.
Appeals Court Revives Challenge to NYC Handgun Restrictions
A Second Circuit panel ruled that New York City’s handgun restrictions cannot be dismissed without applying the Supreme Court’s Bruen framework. The decision revives challenges to limits on carrying one handgun at a time and buying a handgun only once every 90 days, while also addressing a two-handgun carry-license cap that the NYPD repealed in August 2024.
The appeals court did not find the rules unconstitutional. It said the challenged activities fall within the Second Amendment’s protection and that the city must now demonstrate the restrictions are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The case returns to the district court for that next-stage review.
New York City has defended the purchase limit as a way to deter straw purchases. The ruling nonetheless requires a historical justification under Bruen rather than allowing the restrictions to stand based on the lower court’s initial reasoning. The panel left the separate fee claim dismissed, and the final outcome of the constitutional challenges remains for further proceedings.
Reported by Townhall, The Daily Caller.
