Pirate's Cove

I’ve mentioned this suit brought against New York City several times, and now NYC is going even further in trying to end the suit

New York City Backs Off Gun Restrictions To Avoid Supreme Court Defeat

The Supreme Court should dismiss a challenge to New York City’s gun transportation ban because a new ordinance will moot the case, city lawyers told the justices Wednesday.

The ordinance and a newly enacted state law will give the plaintiffs who challenged the transportation ban everything they have sought in court, making dismissal the appropriate course, city lawyers wrote in a letter to the high court.

“The new city regulation gives petitioners everything they have sought in this lawsuit,” assistant corporation counsel Richard Dearing wrote. “The new state law, upon signature by the governor, will make the case doubly moot.”

If the case is not dismissed, the city will continue arguing the dispute is moot in a legal brief due Aug. 5. They will not address the merits of the controversy, Dearing wrote.

While the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the city, the Supreme Court decided to review the case, which truly scared NYC, and they are thinking that the city will lose at the Supreme Court. So, the city changed the law, stating

“If, however, this Court prefers to allow briefing (and potentially oral argument) to play out, respondents will file a brief on the designated due date maintaining in greater detail that the case is moot,” the letter reads.

“Respondents do not intend to address whether the Constitution entitles petitioners (or any other residents of New York City with premises licenses) to transport their handguns from their homes in the city to second homes, or to firing ranges or shooting competitions beyond municipal borders, where they have a legal right to possess them. Respondents no longer have any stake in that legal question,” it adds.

Technically, they are correct. With the law gone, there is no point. Or, is there? As I wrote back in May, the idea here is to make the chance of a ruling moot

The rule itself was about restricting where law abiding citizens could take their firearms. They were limited to 7 shooting ranges in the city (which the city would also like to shut down), but not to second homes or shooting ranges outside the city. The changes would remove those restrictions. If the court drops review of the case, you know that those restrictions would slowly re-appear. Because if the gun grabbers can’t do the Big Law, they’ll do death by a thousand rules.

Once the case is dropped, what would stop NYC from slowly reinstating the same restrictions over a couple years? At which point the suit would have start fresh. The question is, will the 2nd Amendment supporters on the Court think the same thing, and decide to listen to arguments and provide a ruling which would stop any future restrictions in NYC and, essentially, every other gun grabbing area?