US appeals court stays preliminary injunction of New York law restricting guns on private property

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Monday issued a one-page order staying a lower court’s preliminary injunction of a New York law which restricts gun possession on private property. The court is in the process of setting an expedited briefing schedule to hear an appeal filed by defendant and Superintendent of the New York State Police Steven Nigrelli.

The law at issue in Christian v. Nigrelli is New York Penal Law 265.01, which classifies possessing a “firearm, rifle, or shotgun” on private property as criminal possession of a weapon if the gun owner “knows or reasonably should know” that the property owner has not permitted carrying weapons on the property. A New York federal judge struck the law down last month as unconstitutional, citing Fourteenth Amendment and Second Amendment concerns.

Monday’s ruling is just the latest in an ongoing dispute over New York’s gun laws. In June, the US Supreme Court struck down a New York law that required people petitioning for an unrestricted handgun permit to show they faced a greater need than others to carry a concealed handgun. In response, the New York legislature passed a new law in July that removed the required showing of greater need but requires an applicant to provide emergency contact information and meet with a licensing officer.