Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed expansive gun legislation on Friday night banning people from carrying guns in a litany of “sensitive locations,” including Times Square and churches throughout New York.
The restrictive legislation comes just a week after the Supreme Court struck down 100-year-old restrictions on concealed carry in New York.
“While this ruling issued by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority invalidates the concealed carry permit restrictions, the decision allows states to issue licensing requirements for carrying a firearm,” the New York State Senate Majority said in a statement. “In light of this decision, the Senate Majority is taking action to address the invalidated provisions and counter the potential effects of this ruling on public safety.”
Areas where guns will not be allowed to be carried include Times Square, churches, bars, restaurants, airports, public parks, subways, trains, buses, ferries, schools, libraries, public parks, zoos, homeless shelters, and private property without permission of the property owner.
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) said Hochul was targeting law-abiding New Yorkers with the legislation in an interview on Fox News.
“Now, what they’re doing with this action today up in Albany is targeting the law-abiding New Yorker. I don’t think they’re making New York more safe; they’re making New York less safe,” he said.
“They’re creating these locations as targets because now, as a criminal, if you wanted to carry out one of your acts of targeting someone with an illegal firearm, you know that you’re likely to encounter less resistance because the only people who care about these laws passed today are the law-abiding citizens,” Zeldin added.
The new restrictions on where guns can be carried also came as Democrat-dominated New York pushed through legislation that included a provision making those applying for gun permits to list their social media accounts so that they can be vetted for “character and conduct.”
Prior to signing the legislation, Hochul said that the gun control legislation was “the embodiment of what it means to be an American. In honor of our Fourth of July weekend.”
Republicans and gun rights advocates warned about the constitutional implications of the gun legislation.
New York GOP chairman Nick Langworthy called Hochul a “national embarrassment.”
“It may be the start of Independence Day weekend but New Yorkers’ constitutional freedoms were just trampled on by Kathy Hochul and her pawns in the legislature. This bill is a political charade that makes New Yorkers less safe,” he said. “Only under the insanity of New York Democrats can you get out of jail free for possessing an illegal firearm, but be targeted by the government for being a law-abiding citizen exercising your constitutional rights.”