Federal Judge: NY Ban on Concealed Carry on Private Property Unconstitutional

U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. ruled on October 11, 2024, that New York’s ban on concealed carry on private property open to the public is unconstitutional.

The case is Christian v. James and the plaintiffs are the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, and private citizen Brett Christian.

Sinatra noted that the New York law makes it “a felony for a concealed carry license holder to possess a firearm on all private property, unless the relevant property holders actually permit such possession.”

He then pointed to Heller (2008), McDonald (2010), and Bruen (2022), noting the certainty of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and lack of historical precedent in American history for New York’s law.

Sinatra wrote, “The Nation’s historical traditions have not countenanced such a curtailment of the right to keep and bear arms. Indeed, the right to self-defense is equally important—and equally recognized—on then vast swaths of private property open to the public across New York State.”

He subsequently permanently enjoined agents of the state from enforcing the private property ban.

Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb responded to Sinatra’s ruling. “Once again, Empire State anti-gunners have been held in check by a judge who understands the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” he said. “The State tried to perpetuate its virtual ban on legal carry by prohibiting firearms on all private property open to the public for whatever reason, and the judge correctly said this restriction does not pass constitutional muster.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.