New York gun owners misfire in bid to scrap background checks for ammo

MANHATTAN (CN) — Gun advocates failed to demonstrate that a New York state law requiring background checks before ammunition purchases violates their Second Amendment rights, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

The New York State Firearms Association claims the 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act impedes ammunition sales, citing system delays and outages that scuttle transactions and calling the process humiliating for the group’s members.

Appealing a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs said the court erred based on its analysis of the historical tradition of firearms regulation under the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen .

But a three-judge appellate panel said it didn’t even need to consider the historical analysis because it affirmed the trial court on a different basis: that the plaintiffs “failed to demonstrate, on this record, that the modest conditions the ammunition background check provisions impose on the commercial sale of ammunition meaningfully constrain their right to keep and bear arms.”

“Thus, we conclude, albeit on a different legal ground, that the district court correctly denied the preliminary injunction motion because plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits,” U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco wrote in the 35-page ruling.

Joining Bianco were U.S. Circuit judges William J. Nardini and Michael H. Park, forming a trio of Trump appointees.

Attorney Stephen Klein, who represents the gun rights advocates, maintained that the law thwarts the U.S. Constitution in a statement following the ruling.

“Today’s opinion is disappointing. The panel upheld a law that is designed to frustrate ammunition purchases by law-abiding New York gun owners and dismissed a record that shows it’s doing just that. We look forward to the eventual elimination of schemes like ammunition background checks because they are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment,” said Klein, an attorney at the Washington-based firm Barr & Klein.

During oral arguments in March, Beezly Kiernan of the New York attorney general’s office argued in support of the law.

“Bruen itself approved of background checks, noting that they are designed to ensure only that those keeping and bearing arms are, in fact, law abiding, responsible citizens,” Kiernan said, adding that the advocates failed to introduce ample evidence that the background checks create lengthy wait times.

New York Attorney General Letitia James applauded the ruling in a statement Wednesday.

“Once again, my office has successfully defended New York’s background checks on ammunition sales despite repeated attempts to undermine this commonsense law. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their community and my office will continue to defend our laws and protect public safety,” James said.

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