Following a landmark victory at the Supreme Court, a judge in New York has mandated the state to remit almost half a million dollars in legal fees to the National Rifle Association (NRA).
The association had challenged a public carry licensing law in New York, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional, affirming that carrying a pistol in public was a constitutional right protected by the Second Amendment, according to a report from Fox News.
In a case known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which concluded last summer, the NRA emerged victorious, with the court reinforcing individual rights to public handgun carry for self-defense.
Subsequently, the state of New York has been directed to pay $447,700.82 in legal fees to the NRA.
Michael Jean, the NRA’s Director of the Office of Litigation Counsel, conveyed the association’s stance, stating, “The NRA regards the $447K award in the NYSRPA V. Bruen case as a pivotal victory, a symbol that justice is definitively on our side.”
He highlighted the significance of this triumph in strengthening the Second Amendment and expressed the association’s ongoing resolve to preserve these rights against potential infringements.
However, Jean mentioned that this monetary award merely covers “a third” of the organization’s incurred legal expenses, acknowledging the contributions of “devoted NRA members” in covering the substantial legal costs, while pointing out that “New York refuses to fully compensate.”
Previously, the New York law necessitated that applicants demonstrate “proper cause” to obtain a carry license, allowing state officials significant discretion in evaluating whether an individual has provided a valid reason to carry a firearm, Fox notes.
A general desire for self-protection was deemed insufficient.
Justice Clarence Thomas, in the court’s majority opinion, endorsed the right of “ordinary, law-abiding citizens” to publicly carry handguns for self-defense, asserting that New York’s existing licensing process contravenes the Constitution due to its restrictive nature and lack of clarity regarding what constitutes “proper cause.”
The dissenting opinion, penned by Justice Stephen Breyer in one of his final cases, drew attention to the contemporary crisis of gun violence.
Joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, Breyer highlighted alarming statistics including the 45,222 firearm-related deaths in the U.S. in 2020 and the escalating number of mass shootings in 2022, underscoring gun violence as the predominant cause of death among children and adolescents.
“The court today severely burdens states’ efforts to do so,” lamented Breyer, reflecting on the limitations imposed on states’ endeavors to regulate firearms.
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, New York legislators promptly enacted the Concealed Carry Improvement Act.
This act delineates “sensitive areas” where firearms are prohibited, enforces enhanced record-keeping and safety norms for retailers, and mandates background scrutiny for all ammunition acquisitions.
The imposition of the new law spurred immediate appeals from gun retailers, seeking to obstruct the enactment of the law during ongoing litigation.
However, the Supreme Court denied their interim injunction request.
Lead attorney for the New York gun retailers, Paloma Capanna, expressed disappointment over the inability to secure an emergency temporary injunction against the new enactments, emphasizing their challenge against New York’s authority “to target dealers in firearms in the lawful stream of commerce, to put them out of business.”
Last month, it was reported that statistics from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), published by the FBI at July’s end, revealed that the U.S. had witnessed a consistent streak of over one million monthly gun sales for the past four years.
Every month, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) scrutinizes these figures after the FBI releases them. Reflecting on the data from July 2023, Public Affairs Manager Director Mark Oliva noted:
“This is a remarkable milestone of four continuous years of over 1 million background checks for the sale of a firearm. That’s no small achievement and is indicative of the strong and sustained appetite for law-abiding Americans to take ownership of their Second Amendment rights. It also shows the resilience of the firearm and ammunition industry to meet this continued demand for high-quality firearms that today’s gun owner expects.”
The report emphasized how FBI data showed there were 2,015,789 background checks in July 2023, and that the NSSF determined 1,023,903 of those checks were for gun purchases and/or transfers.
