New York Passes Gun Bill Requiring People to Disclose Social Media Accounts

Want self-Defense? Let’s check your speech.

The new legislation provides that the candidate has “good moral character,” judged by the immoral and evil.

The Democrats are shredding our unalienable rights. This cannot stand.

The new legislation provides that the candidate has “good moral character,” judged by the immoral and evil.

(The Federalist: The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that the Second Amendment guarantees law-abiding citizens the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense, both in their homes and in public. On Friday, New York responded that it didn’t care.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ushered in the long Independence Day weekend on Friday by signing into law legislation crafted in response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. Just more than a week earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court in Bruen had declared that New York’s prior “may issue” gun licensing scheme, which prohibited individuals from carrying concealed handguns unless they “demonstrate[d] a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community,” violated the Second Amendment. In reaching that conclusion, the high court stressed that the right to “bear arms,” by necessity, applies outside the home.

Want Self-Defense? Let’s Inspect Your Speech

Among other things, to obtain a conceal-carry permit in New York, an applicant must complete 16 hours of in-person live curriculum and two hours of a live-fire range training course. In addition to completing the forms and providing details of other individuals residing in the same abode, applicants must also provide the licensing officer with four character references and “a list of former and current social media accounts of the applicant from the past three years.”

The ability of ordinary New Yorkers to affordably access in-person training courses, in addition to any permitting fees, raises one question that will likely find itself litigated. However, a bigger constitutional issue looms with the law’s requirement that applicants provide a list of social media accounts.

The statute provides that licensing officers need that information to determine if a candidate has “good moral character,” which is defined as meaning “having the essential character, temperament and judgment necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself or others.” But requiring applicants to disclose to government officials their protected speech, which likely includes political speech and possibly speech engaged in anonymously, raises serious First Amendment concerns not yet analyzed by the courts.

Should that portion of the statute withstand a constitutional challenge—something likely coming in the days or weeks ahead—individuals denied permits based on their social media speech will likely challenge those individual decisions in what is called an “as-applied challenge.” Such claims will likely succeed, too, if the permitting officials’ decision-making process reveals they possess limitless discretion to conduct an ad hoc, rudderless review of social media accounts to deny permits.

Fox News: New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a new gun control bill Friday after the Supreme Court ruled last week that the state’s rules that make it difficult for residents to obtain a concealed carry permit were unconstitutional. The law struck down by the Supreme Court stated that gun owners would have to demonstrate “proper cause” to receive a concealed carry license. The new law will require people trying to purchase a handgun license to hand over a list of social media accounts they have maintained over the last three years, so officials can verify their “character and conduct” (Fox News). Washington Examiner: An applicant seeking a permit will need to meet with a licensing officer for an in-person interview, complete at least 16 hours of firearm training, and agree to store all firearms securely, according to the bill. The legislation will also create a statewide database for ammunition sales and license records and mandate sellers to keep records of every ammunition transaction (Washington Examiner).

Governor Of New York Signs New Extreme Gun Control Bill
By: Nathan “The Bull” G., Steadfast and Loyal, July 3, 202217

Kathy Hochul, the Democrat governor of New York, officially signed her name to a massive gun law this past Friday which sought to ban people from carrying their guns throughout a laundry list of “sensitive locations,” which included all churched throughout the state and Times Square itself.

The heavily restrictive new piece of legislation has been pushed through just a short period of time in the wake of the Supreme Court issuing a ruling that removed an over 100-year-old law about concealed carry laws for 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,” explained the New York State Majority via a release. “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.”
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Areas that are slated to be included in the firearm bans 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.

Lee Zeldin, a Congressman and Republican gubernatorial candidate for New York, stated that Hochul was now trying to target law-abiding citizens of New York with the new bill, reported Fox News via a recent interview.

“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,” stated Zeldin.

These new restrictions concerning where guns can be carried also just as the heavily Democrat-dominated New York strongarmed through a piece of legislation that sports a provision that would make it a requirement of all those seeking gun permits to hand over their social media accounts in order to be judged for “character and conduct.”
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Before she actually signed the new bill, Hochul claimed that this gun control bill was “the embodiment of what it means to be an American. In honor of our Fourth of July weekend.”

Many Republicans and gun rights advocates have come forth with warnings about the extreme constitutional implications of the gun legislation.

Nick Langworthy, the New York GOP Chairman, labeled Hochul as an outright “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 exclaimed. “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.”

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