The Volokh Conspiracy
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Court Blocks N.Y.'s Requirement of Express Owner Permission to Carry Guns on Private Property
From a decision today by Judge John Sinatra (W.D.N.Y.) in Christian v. Nigrelli:
Another one of New York's new restrictions imposed in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court's Bruen decision is the private property exclusion. That new provision makes it a felony for a license holder to possess a firearm on all private property, unless the relevant property holders actually permit such possession with a sign or by express consent….
Property owners indeed have the right to exclude. But the state may not unilaterally exercise that right and, thereby, interfere with the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens who seek to carry for self-defense outside of their own homes. Thus, the motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining Defendants' enforcement of this private property exclusion is granted.
I have to run to class, but hope to have a bit more on this tonight or tomorrow. Congratulations to David Thompson, John Tienken, Nicolas Rotsko, and Peter Patterson of Cooper & Kirk, who represent plaintiffs. Note: One of the plaintiffs is the Firearms Policy Coalition, for which I sometimes consult; I wasn't involved in this case.
