It appears another unconstitutional gun control law will be on the chopping block soon after a federal judge issued a ruling allowing a legal challenge against New York’s prohibition on nonresidents obtaining concealed carry permits.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of three individuals who reside in Massachusetts and Connecticut against the law. The legal action targets Sheriffs Kyle Bourgault of Rensselaer County and Donald J. Krapf of Columbia County. Superintendent of the New York State Police Steven G. James was also named in the suit, but the judge dismissed the case against him.
Currently, New York does not recognize concealed carry permits issued in other states. Nonresidents are not eligible to apply for a license in the Empire State unless they qualify as a part-time resident, someone principally employed in the state, or someone whose principal place of business is in New York.
The plaintiffs argue that the residency rule violated their Second Amendment rights by preventing them from obtaining permits because they live in other states.
The state argued that the plaintiffs are treated the same as New Yorkers. The law “says nothing at all about persons located outside of New York” and “there is no Second Amendment issuee presented, since Plaintiffs may apply for firearms licenses on the same basis as New Yorkers,” according to New York’s government.
US District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino rejected this argument in her ruling. She pointed out that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the law because the residency requirement barred them from even applying for a license. She further argued that Americans do not need to give a “futile gesture” to preserve their rights.
LEGAL ALERT: A New York federal judge has ruled that the state's non-resident carry ban violates the Second Amendment. https://t.co/RRJzOx8VsV pic.twitter.com/EnEXCjFbuz
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) August 20, 2025
“Regardless of whether Plaintiffs were able to apply for a firearm license, they have standing to challenge the firearm statute and its application under the Second Amendment,” D’Agostino wrote. “The Supreme Court has stated that to hold otherwise ‘contravenes the settled principle that Americans need not engage in empty formalities before they can invoke their constitutional rights, and it wrongly reduces the Second Amendment to a ‘second-class right.’”
The state also contended that at least eight countries “accept firearm licensing applications from out-of-state applicants that do not reside in New York” and that the plaintiffs could have just applied there.
D’Agostino wasn’t buying it. She pointed out that the Supreme Court already established that plaintiffs are not required to go county shopping or file “futile” applications when the law already bars them from doing so.
Judge D’Agostino’s ruling means that the lawsuit can go forward. This is where the real fun will begin.
The plaintiffs are likely to rely on the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The decision mandates that gun restrictions must be similar to laws enacted during the Founding era. Back in those days, the state and federal governments did not have laws establishing residency requirements in the colonies.
This one seems like a slam dunk so far.