On Wednesday, February 26, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to New York’s “Concealed Carry Improvement Act.”
In response to the NRA’s landmark victory in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen in 2022—which confirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right bear arms in public—New York passed the so-called “Concealed Carry Improvement Act,” which severely restricts the right to carry firearms throughout the state.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld many of the CCIA’s restrictions in 2023. But the Supreme Court vacated that opinion and sent the case back to the Second Circuit for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s U.S. v. Rahimi decision in 2024. After reconsidering the case, the Second Circuit issued another decision upholding the CCIA’s restrictions.
On February 26, the NRA filed its second amicus brief in this case urging the Supreme Court to hear the case. The NRA’s brief highlights the split among the federal circuit courts over whether the understanding of the right to keep and bear arms in 1791 (when the Second Amendment was ratified) or 1868 (when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified) controls. The brief then argues that the Supreme Court’s precedents clearly demonstrate that the original 1791 understanding controls, and that the Court should hear the case to resolve the dispute explicitly.
This case is named Antonyuk v. James. The NRA is also challenging the CCIA in a case named New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. James, currently before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit https://www.nraila.org/legal-legislation/current-litigation/ to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.
