With Times Square Gun Ban In Jeopardy, NY Plots High-Stakes Appeal

NEW YORK CITY — A ban on guns in Times Square and the subway system could hinge on a high-stakes appeal against an upstate judge's ruling that shot down much of New York's newly crafted concealed carry laws.

Mayor Eric Adams voiced support Friday for an appeal by state Attorney General Letitia James to halt the ruling.

New York City is too densely populated to allow people to carry guns in public, he said.

"It's the wrong thing to do," he said.

Judge Glenn Suddaby in the federal Northern District Court of New York ruled Thursday the state's new concealed carry law — which was enacted after a controversial Supreme Court decision that threw out a long-standing state gun law — is unconstitutional.

Suddaby found the law's ban on guns in Times Square and most other "sensitive locations," such as public transportation, likely violates the Second Amendment.

He issued a temporary restraining order that would block state officials from enforcing the law as a lawsuit against it moves forward.

James quickly announced plans to appeal the ruling, and filed a notice to do so Friday, according to court records.

"I will not back down from the fight to protect New Yorkers from repeated and baseless attacks on our state’s gun safety measures," she said in a statement. "I will continue to defend our responsible gun laws and fight for the safety of everyday New Yorkers.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul likewise blasted the ruling and cast it as an attack on her power to protect New Yorkers.

"While this decision leaves aspects of the law in place, it is deeply disappointing that the Judge wants to limit my ability to keep New Yorkers safe and to prevent more senseless gun violence," she said in her own statement.

Even before the Supreme Court decision, Adams and other New York political leaders railed against loosening gun laws. Doing so, they argued, would turn the city into the "Wild West."

Adams repeated those fears Friday.

"You've all heard me say again and again, there's one thing that keeps me up at night: the Supreme Court's decision around the gun laws," he said.

Adams' desire for restful sleep appeared temporarily safe after state lawmakers passed a sweeping concealed carry law that specifically carved out Times Square as an effective "gun free zone" and placed restrictions on firearms in other "sensitive locations."

City officials even began posting "gun free" signs around Times Square and began the process of legally defining the famous destination's borders — a necessity to enact the ban.

The appeal by James likely will temporarily block Suddaby's restraining order from taking effect, but that could be reversed by a federal appellate court.