Visitors to New York City will see signs in Times Square advertising it as a “sensitive location” where people cannot carry guns, Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday as Democrats manage the fallout from a Supreme Court decision that said blue states went too far in restricting concealed carry.
Mr. Adams said the signs will let people know that licensed gun carriers and others may not enter with a firearm unless specially authorized by law. Signs will be posted at other “sensitive locations” around the city in the future.
“The U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision was the shot heard round the world that took dead aim at the safety of all New Yorkers,” Mr. Adams said. “New York City will defend itself against this decision, and, beginning tomorrow, new eligibility requirements for concealed carry permit applicants and restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons in ’sensitive locations,’ like Times Square, take effect.”
The push is a part of an education campaign in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in June that rejected a New York law requiring anyone who wants to carry a handgun outside the home to apply for a license and show “proper cause.”
The court said states can ban firearms from sensitive places, like courthouses, but the New York law in question was too broad and appeared to outlaw guns in any densely populated place.
The ruling had implications for states with similar laws, including New Jersey, California, Hawaii, Maryland and Massachusetts.
SEE ALSO: New York’s quickly adopted new gun laws also quickly targeted with pro-gun lawsuits
Governors in those states scrambled to issue new rules, such as beefed-up training for concealed carry permits and an expansion of the roster of sensitive zones where guns are off-limits.
Mr. Adams launched the campaign one day before a New York state law, which fine-tuned the definition of sensitive zones and required carry-permit applicants to complete a firearms training course, goes into effect.
The law also stiffened safe-storage requirements and background checks ahead of gun purchases, while banning the purchase of hard body armor.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed the legislation July 1 in the wake of the Supreme Court decision and a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store in May that killed 10 people.
“I refuse to surrender my right as governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. In New York state, we will continue leading the way forward and implementing common-sense gun safety legislation,” Ms. Hochul said Wednesday.
Republicans, including GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin, have slammed the law as an affront to the Constitution and law-abiding gun owners who want to protect themselves against rising crime.
SEE ALSO: New York makes nearly everywhere ‘gun free’ zone after Supreme Court ruling
“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,” Mr. Zeldin told Fox News in July.
Yet Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat who recently won a hard-fought primary, described the nation as “awash in guns” and said the situation and court ruling required action.
City officials said ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it, but that signs labeling sensitive zones will help people adjust to the new rules.
The initiative comes as Mr. Adams faces pressure to follow through on his campaign pledge to beat back crime and lift New York City out of its pandemic doldrums.
Murders and shootings are down slightly compared with this time period in 2021, but other major crime categories are up, including a nearly 40% jump in reported robberies, according to New York Police Department statistics.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.