New York to make it illegal to carry a gun into places of business without ‘guns welcome’ signs

In an ongoing effort to subvert the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down New York’s unconstitutional concealed carry gun restrictions, Governor Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that the state’s legislatures are looking to ban guns from all businesses that do not post signs welcoming firearms into their establishments.

If a business does not display a sign that expressly states, “Concealed weapons welcome here,” or something close to it, says Hochul, “the presumption will be in the state of New York that they are not.”

“We’re going to protect the rights of private property owners, allow them to not have to be subjected to someone walking into their workplace or a bar, restaurant with a concealed weapon,” the Democrat stated, according to the Daily Mail.

The ink had barely dried on the 6-3 SCOTUS ruling which determined New York could not restrict the right of gun owners to obtain concealed carry permits without first proving they had “proper cause” for such a license before Hochul began looking for a way to work around it.

Prior to the ruling, self-defense was not considered a “proper” enough cause, and permits were largely restricted to security and law enforcement personnel.

In the Court’s opinion — the first on a major gun case in more than a decade — Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, “In this case, petitioners and respondents agree that ordinary, law-abiding citizens have a similar right to carry handguns publicly for their self-defense. We too agree, and now hold, consistent with Heller and McDonald, that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home.”

“Because the State of New York issues public-carry licenses only when an applicant demonstrates a special need for self-defense,” Thomas explained, “we conclude that the State’s licensing regime violates the Constitution.”

“In response to this ruling, we are closely reviewing our options — including calling a special session of the legislature,” Hochul tweeted following the decision. “Just as we swiftly passed nation-leading gun reform legislation, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence.”

Her lack of respect for the nation’s highest court and the laws it is tasked with interpreting was immediately on full display.

“It is outrageous that at a moment of national reckoning on gun violence,” she stated, “the Supreme Court has recklessly struck down a New York law that limits those who can carry concealed weapons.”

True to her word, the governor maligned the SCOTUS ruling as “horrific” and called “a special legislative session” for Thursday aimed at strengthening gun restrictions in spite of Constitutional law.

Following a meeting with the Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns on Wednesday, Hochul stated, “My number one priority as governor is to keep New Yorkers safe. Period.”

“We’ve made undeniable progress in getting illegal guns off the street, but there’s more work to do,” she continued. “I won’t rest until I’ve done everything in my power to end the gun violence epidemic once and for all.”

And to do it, Hochul, like so many liberals these days, is relying on private businesses to do what she as a government official can not: circumvent a Supreme Court ruling.

According to the executive director of the New York State Firearms Association, Aaron Dorr, Hochul’s new mandates are another “unconstitutional” strike against New Yorkers.

“She’s telling business owners how they need to conduct their business if they want to stay open,” Dorr told the Daily Mail. “These are unconstitutional mandates, and I think it’ll be struck down by the courts.”

Among the new mandates are requirements of 15 hours of in-person fire range training and new rules for the storage of firearms in cars and in homes.

Additionally, Hochul and her fellow Dems are creating a “comprehensive list” of s0-called “sensitive places” where only authorized citizens will be able to carry a firearm. Naturally, these places include government buildings, hospitals, schools, and public transit.

Currently, in states which have encouraged concealed carry permits, it is typically the business that must post a sign stating that guns are not allowed. Hochul’s move — one which is being replicated across the nation in states such as California — flips the onus of prohibiting weapons on its head.

Under Hochul’s measure, law-abiding citizens will still need permission to exercise their uninfringeable rights.

New York is the first state to attempt such a work-around, says David Pucino, deputy chief counsel for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

“The state is responding in a very strong way to address the new risks created by the court, but in a way that fits into the framework the court has put forward about what a constitutional set of gun laws look like,” he said.

Also on Hochul’s to-do list is enforcing strict background checks for the purchase of ammunition for any gun that requires a permit.

According to Dorr, the checks will do nothing for public safety, but they will present yet another opportunity to hassle legal gun owners.

“No criminal is going to walk into a retail store to purchase ammunition,” he said. “This is an absurd attempt to demonize law-abiding gun owners one more time.”

Melissa Fine

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