Judging Freedom - SCOTUS allows NY Gun Carry law to be enforced

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

Hi, everyone. Judge Andrew Napolitano here for Judging Freedom. Today is Wednesday, January 11th, 2023. It's about 1140 in the morning. me and many of us decided that the New York state right to carry law, which is the most anti-right to carry law statute in the union alongside of New Jersey's, can stay in place during the litigation challenging it. So here's the background. In June of this year, just seven months ago, the Supreme Court of the United States, by a vote of 66 to 3, upheld the right of individuals to carry a gun outside the home and said the Second Amendment is as expansive and fundamental as the first. Well, if the government can't make us give them a list of the books we read, how can it make us give them a list of the guns we own? Another story for another time. The state of New York, in response to that ruling, which told the state, which was a litigant in that case, you are a shall issue state, meaning the presumption is that everybody who wants a gun permit shall get one. New York and New Jersey used to be may issue states, meaning the presumption was you're

not entitled to one and you had to prove why you want it. From and after this case, you don't have to prove anything. The state has to disprove why you should get it. Well, the state of New York and New Jersey enacted so many exemptions to the right to carry that it would be nearly impossible to drive across New Jersey carrying a gun, well, you can't even carry it in your car, or to walk across New York City at Midtown, for example, where Fox is at 6th Avenue and 47th Street, and carry a gun. A federal judge in New York, Judge Sinatra, no relation to Frank as far as I know, a federal judge in New York invalidated the statute temporarily and said it's so obviously

unconstitutional on its face, I'm going to prevent the state from enforcing it while we litigate it, while we hold a trial going through every nook and cranny of the statute. The state appealed that to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and they reversed Judge Sinatra and said, no, the statute may be unconstitutional, we don't know, but it's going to stay in place during the pendency of the litigation. The plaintiffs then appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States saying, reimpose the stay, don't make us labor under this obviously unconstitutional law. And the Supreme Court this morning unanimously decided not to do so.

Justices Thomas and Alito saying, don't misinterpret us. This is just a preliminary ruling. This has to do with procedure. We don't like to jump the gun before the Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Bottom line, this statute in New York will eventually go away, but it's going to take two years before it reaches the Supreme Court of the United States. Same is the case in New Jersey. Just yesterday, a federal judge in New Jersey wrote a brilliant and gifted 60-page opinion. Judge Renee Marie Bum wrote a 60-page opinion staying the New Jersey statute, which is nearly the same as the New York one. Her stay will now eventually be lifted by the Third Circuit

in light of what the Supreme Court did today. So look, freedom and justice sometimes comes in baby steps. It shouldn't. The right to protect yourself using the same mechanical means that the government uses and that the bad guys use is a fundamental personal liberty. You shouldn't have to wait for it. You shouldn't have to register for it. You shouldn't have to ask the state for permission to exercise it. But that's where we are. More as we get it.

Judge Napolitano for judging freedom.