High Court Ruling Seen as Challenge to N.Y. Gun Permits

Tuesday, June 29,2010
By Sean Gardiner and Michael Howard Saul
A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court giving federal judges the power to strike down local weapons laws is expected to prompt legal challenges to New York City's gun-permits process.
Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said the question to be asked after Monday's high court ruling isn't whether there will be lawsuits, but how many will be filed.
"Will there be court cases because of this? Obviously, yes," said Mr. King. "Cases in New York and cases around the nation."
Although he didn't want to speculate, Mr. King said areas in which New York City's gun-permitting process is possibly susceptible to legal challenge include the length it takes to obtain a permit, fees and what Mr. King said was a bias in the city's permitting law that favors "celebrities," the "politically connected" and "wealthy people."
"The way the pistol permit is written in New York City in particular it's really an uninclusive law that makes it much easier for a wealthy diplomat to get a license than it does for the everyday working man," he said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg leaned on another constitutional amendment, that concerning freedom of speech, to refute Mr. King's assertion.
"That's why you have the First Amendment, so they can say things that just aren't true without going to jail," Mr. Bloomberg said when asked to comment. "But the truth of the matter is we have a bunch of regulations…. They don't say movie stars and rich people get them. They say there's a process. You have to show need."
The Supreme Court's decision Monday reinforced its 2008 ruling that Americans have a constitutional right to own guns no matter where they live, and it put in jeopardy Chicago's longstanding ban on handguns. Mr. Bloomberg said he was sure the decision would spur lawsuits in New York, but added that the Supreme Court's ruling made clear that "reasonable regulations," which he believes are in place in New York City, are acceptable.
John S. Chambers, whose website address is pistolpermitattorneynyc.com, said his law practice revolves primarily around helping people obtain and keep their gun permits. The attorney said there is no official language in the laws favoring the rich and famous. But, he added: "Do I think it's easier when it comes to a 'conceal carry' [permit] for someone like Donald Trump to get it than Mr. Joe Locksmith? Yes."
But he said the problem with the city's system isn't that celebrity power brokers get gun permits more easily, but that non-famous, law-abiding people have to go through such an arduous and expensive procedure to obtain a gun permit.
Mr. Chambers said obtaining a permit to keep a gun at one's residence currently requires at least four trips in person to NYPD headquarters, totals $434.25 in fees and takes three to seven months. "It's got to be a shorter process," he said. "For completely law-abiding citizens who have absolutely no mark on their record, it should be a month."
Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and past president of the Brady Campaign, an antigun violence group, said that while he disagrees with the court's ruling, "what is most important to the gun-control movement is the ability to pass reasonable laws designed to break up the illegal gun markets."
He said his group is "undeterred" in continuing to pursue laws aimed at taking illegal guns off the streets.
Write to Sean Gardiner at sean.gardiner@wsj.com