STATUTE CRIMINALIZING THE POSSESSION OF AN UNLICENSED FIREARM DOES NOT VIOLATE THE SECOND AMENDMENT (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Peradotto, determined that the statute prohibiting possession of an unlicensed firearm in the home does not violate the Second Amendment:
… [D]efendant contends that New York may not constitutionally impose any criminal sanction whatsoever on the unlicensed possession of a handgun in the home. * * *
… [I]t is beyond dispute that “New York has substantial, indeed compelling, governmental interests in public safety and crime prevention” … . Those concerns include the state’s “substantial and legitimate interest and[,] indeed, . . . grave responsibility, in insuring the safety of the general public from individuals who, by their conduct, have shown” that they should not be entrusted with a dangerous instrument … . …
… [T]the criminal prohibition on the unlicensed possession of a handgun, including in the home, bears a substantial relationship to the state’s interests. “In the context of firearm regulation, the legislature is far better equipped than the judiciary’ to make sensitive public policy judgments (within constitutional limits) concerning the dangers in carrying [and possessing] firearms and the manner to combat those risks” … . People v Tucker, 2020 NY Slip Op 00739, Fourth Dept 1-31-20