“It is outrageous,” she said on Twitter, “that at a time of national gun violence, the Supreme Court recklessly repealed a New York law that restricts those who can carry concealed weapons.”
The state is “carefully reviewing our capabilities – including convening a special session of the legislature,” the governor said, vowing to “protect New Yorkers from gun violence.”
The case was initiated by a group and two persons supported by the NRA. The solution could potentially allow more weapons to be carried in public, and critics say the solution will hamper sensible decisions that they believe could curb gun violence.
“Simply put, this Supreme Court ruling will put New Yorkers at additional risk of gun violence,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
But the city will continue to do its best, Adams said, including conducting a “comprehensive review of our approach to identifying” sensitive areas “where gunfire is prohibited, and reviewing our application process to ensure that only those who are fully qualified may be licensed to carry it. “
“We will work together to mitigate the risks that this decision will create once it is implemented,” the mayor said, “because we cannot allow New York to become the Wild West.”
The decision “undermines public safety,” the Manhattan prosecutor said
The law in question regulates licenses to carry a concealed pistol in a public place for self-defense and requires a resident who obtains a license to carry a concealed pistol or revolver to prove that there is a “correct reason” for the permit. But the Supreme Court, by a 6-3 majority, overturned the law in a ruling issued as the United States continues to fight gun violence and mass shootings.
Officials in New York State were awaiting the decision, worried it could make access to guns easier and more common to gun crimes, an opinion echoed Thursday by district attorneys in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg criticized the decision in a statement, saying it “severely undermines public safety not only in New York but throughout the country.”
However, Bragg said he was “committed to doing everything in my power to fight for the safety that everyone in this city deserves.”
“New York still has some of the strictest gun laws in the country in the books,” Bragg said, “and we will continue to use those statutes to hold accountable those who commit gun violence.”
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez also condemned the country’s highest court ruling, calling it a “public safety nightmare.”
“New York’s strong gun laws have saved lives for more than a century, and the Supreme Court’s decision to open the door to millions of New Yorkers to carry concealed weapons is a nightmare for public safety,” he said. “The evidence is vast that states with gun laws see much higher levels of gun deaths, from accidents to suicides, domestic accidents to street crime.
Westchester County Attorney Miriam E. Roca said the decision “opens the door to other reasonable restrictions on weapons being considered unconstitutional.”
“Today’s decision … will make it absolutely difficult for prosecutors in New York and across the country to protect our communities from gun violence,” Roca said.
New York lawmakers are responding
New York MP Jerry Nadler, a Democrat who represents the state’s 10th congressional district, criticized the six conservative judges who voted to repeal the state law, saying they “threatened New Yorkers” and made them “less safe.” .
“With gun violence across the nation, we need to make our communities safer,” he said. “This decision is shameful.”
Yvette Clark, a Democrat from the 9th Congressional District, uses similar language, describing the Supreme Court’s decision as an “absolutely shameful decision.”
The Supreme Court “ruled that guns were more important than life in this country,” said Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader in the U.S. Senate, recalling recent mass shootings such as the one in Buffalo, New York, where an 18-year-old man was targeted. to black shoppers, shooting 13 people, 10 deadly.
“In these devastating times, when the nation is rocked by mass shootings that have shaken Americans to the core, we must be united to deal with laws that continue to allow weapons to fall into the wrong hands,” Stuart-Cousins said. “New York will meet this latest challenge to pass additional weapons safety legislation.”
Across the aisle were Republicans from New York who praised the decision, including 21st Congressional MP Elise Stefanick, who said the decision was a “victory for the Constitution” in an interview with Fox News.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling reaffirms the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens to hold and carry weapons,” she said in a statement issued by her office, “and rightly declares New York’s shameful attempt to break the rights of New Yorkers’ Second Amendment unconstitutional.” .
Member of Parliament Lee Zeldin, who represents Congressional District 1, similarly described the decision as a victory for law-abiding New Yorkers whose rights to the Second Amendment, he said, “are under constant attack”.
And Claudia Tenny, the county’s 22nd congressman, said the Supreme Court had “finally corrected a mistake against all New Yorkers by confirming that no government has the right to trample on our constitutionally protected rights.”
Republican Gov. Andrew Giuliani applauded today’s decision, saying the Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment and “protected the rights of law-abiding New Yorkers to defend themselves.”
“The answer to violent crime lies in empowering law enforcement and NOT violating our rights as Americans,” Giuliani said.
Peter Nikias and Mark Morales of CNN contributed to this report.
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