Hawaiʻi Attorney General joins amicus brief supporting New York’s concealed-carry law

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general supporting the constitutionality of New York’s concealed-carry laws by asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reverse a lower court decision that preliminarily enjoined certain aspects of New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, also known as CCIA.

In an amicus brief filed in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli, the coalition argues that the CCIA’s provisions — which include new concealed-carry license requirements and restrictions on carrying firearms in certain sensitive places such as schools, public parks, and airports — are constitutional. The coalition further argues that licensing requirements offer a common-sense way to ensure that guns are not carried by individuals who demonstrably lack the character or temperament necessary to be entrusted with a deadly weapon.

Lopez states: “Common-sense firearms laws—like New York’s rules prohibiting guns in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings—are constitutional and effective. Laws like these have a crucial role to play in protecting the public from the serious risks of gun violence.”

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, known as the Bruen case, litigation challenging gun relations has increased dramatically nationwide. In the landmark case, the High Court’s 6-3 decision ruled that the state violated the complainants’ 14th Amendment right to carry a firearm for self-defense when it denied a pair of applicants their request.

The case centered around a person’s right to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense under the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The question presented was whether the state’s denial of the petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for self-defense violated their Second Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court ruled that it did.

Since the ruling, the Department of the Attorney General has been vigorously defending challenges to important firearm regulations, including Hawaiʻi’s lawful regulations prohibiting the possession of assault pistols and large capacity magazines.

Joining Attorney General Lopez in filing the brief are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, the Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

To find a copy of the brief in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli in full, click here.