Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, co-chairs of nonpartisan coalition Prosecutors Against Gun Violence (PAGV), today announced the filing of an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that defends New York’s common-sense “proper cause” requirement for the public carry of firearms. PAGV believes that localized concealed carry permitting standards are crucial tools for combatting unlawful gun use and the crime and violence it inflicts.
In the brief, which can be read in full here, PAGV wrote:
Prosecutors, along with other local law enforcement agencies with which they collaborate daily, play a critical role in promoting citizen safety, the highest objective of state and local government. The key issue before this Court is whether a state may require that a citizen show a “proper” reason for an unrestricted license to carry a concealed firearm in public. From their position on the front lines of local efforts to curb gun violence and defend public safety in a wide cross-section of communities, prosecutors within the Second Circuit, and throughout the nation, will be directly affected by the outcome of this case.
Accordingly, PAGV submits this amicus brief to emphasize the need for deference to local jurisdictions’ determinations about the type of firearm licensing requirements that are best suited to their specific public safety challenges, and to extend its support for New York’s determination that a “proper cause” requirement for the public carry of firearms effectuates that state’s interest in promoting public safety and reducing crime.
In 2018, PAGV submitted an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit case Gould v. O’Leary, supporting Massachusetts’ concealed carry permitting requirements. In November, the First Circuit affirmed the District Court’s rejection of the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Massachusetts law.
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