'Get Guns Off The Streets': NYC Files Brief In 2nd Amendment Case

NEW YORK CITY — A grim future of rampant gun violence in crowded New York City spaces threatens the city if its concealed carry laws are curtailed, according to a brief filed by city attorneys in upcoming Supreme Court case.

The city’s filing aims to fight a case brought by the National Rifle Association against New York's state police. Legal watchers consider the case a test of how newly reshaped, strongly conservative Supreme Court will handle Second Amendment cases.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday the case, if it prevails, could make it easier for people to walk around the city with a concealed handgun — a particular concern for NYPD officials tasked with reducing gun violence.

“The NRA chose to bring the case now, with a right-wing court, that is more likely to favor this type of approach,” he said.

"We need to get guns off the streets," he said.

The amicus brief filed by city attorneys argues the state's "proper-cause" requirement that concealed carry applicants must show a specific need for self-defense should be flexible.

Rural New York areas have different public safety realities than New York City, which is the most-densely populated city in the country, the brief argues.

"Widespread concealed carry would also raise concerns about safe storage and theft of firearms, since many of these sensitive places, as well as private businesses ranging from coffee shops to basketball stadiums, forbid visitors to enter with firearms," the brief states.

"The City’s substantial population also heightens the dangers of firearm use," it continues. "Dense streets, sidewalks, mass transit, and apartment buildings result in innumerable daily interactions, which naturally increases the potential for conflict and sometimes violence. Adding firearms to the mix, even for self-defense, amplifies the danger of commonplace confrontations."

Gun violence still happens in New York City, the brief notes. But its concealed carry laws, along with other measures, prompted a decades-long drop in shooting-related crimes, it argues.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, in a lengthy statement, stressed the need for strong concealed carry laws in the city.

“New York City’s status as the safest big city in the nation was earned in no small part due to our common-sense state gun laws,” he said. “Those laws are the basis of New York City’s constitutionally sound permitting process for those seeking to legally carry firearms. The NYPD’s licensing process ensures that concealed carry permits are issued to individuals who demonstrate a need for such a permit. Eliminating that requirement will only increase the number of guns on our streets, the number of shootings, the number of unintended victims and accidental shootings by untrained armed people. It will increase the danger to both citizens and police. At a time when New York City is struggling with an increase in gun violence, adding to the number of guns on our streets is not the solution.”

The Constitution gives states the ability to craft laws to their own conditions, the brief argues.