New York granted stay to enforce gun restrictions

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- New York can continue to enforce its state law banning gun owners from carrying weapons into "sensitive" places, including Times Square, pending an appeal of a ruling that banned certain gun restrictions.

A three-judge panel from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay on Wednesday against the ruling by Syracuse federal judge Glenn Suddaby that temporarily blocked some of New York's Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

The stay will remain in effect until Jan. 9, at the earliest, when the state's appeal of the ruling is due.

According to Wednesday's order, the panel made an exception for "persons who have been tasked with the duty to keep the peace at places of worship, airports and private buses."

The CCIA, which took effect in September, replaces a 1913 New York law that requires people to show "proper cause" as to why they should be allowed to carry a handgun after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the century-old law in June. The high court said Americans have the right to carry arms outside of the home and in public.

Suddaby's 53-page ruling, in October, said weapons bans in specific locations such as Times Square could be unconstitutional.

"Based on the historical analogues located thus far, it does not appear permissible for New York State to restrict concealed carry in the following place: the area commonly known as Times Square," Suddaby wrote in the ruling.

In the case, which was filed by Gun Owners of America, Suddaby did leave in place certain provisions of the law that ban or restrict guns on property owned or run by the government, including polling places, schools and houses of worship.