New Yorkers applying for concealed carry permits will no longer be required to share their social media accounts with police, according to a settlement proposed in federal court last week.
State officials required concealed carry applicants to provide a list of their social media accounts as part of a sweeping gun safety law in 2022. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Concealed Carry Improvement Act days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s prior gun licensing regulations, finding it gave law enforcement too much power to subjectively decide who should get permits to carry guns.
Hochul said at the time that social media reviews would be part of a more comprehensive application process. …
Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement that the settlement “protects New York’s nation-leading gun safety laws that require licenses to own a firearm.” She did not say why her office decided to stop pursuing its legal defense of the social media requirement.
“We will continue fighting this case and defending our laws that keep New Yorkers safe from gun violence,” she said. …
Peter Tilem, an attorney who represents many gun owners in Second Amendment cases, said it was unclear how the state would decide whose social media posts were too problematic to get concealed carry permits.
“Who was going to determine whether what a licensing officer saw on that social media account disqualified them from exercising their constitutional right or not,” he said. “What was the criteria going to be?”
Tilem said the proposed settlement suggests the state felt it could no longer defend the social media provision in court.
— Samantha Max in NY won’t ask gun permit applicants for social media under court settlement