N.Y. AG announces multi-state coalition against proposed gun laws

NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a coalition of nine state attorneys general and one attorney general-elect on Friday against two federal gun laws that would nullify strict state firearm laws.

Attorneys general from Pennsylvania, Oregon, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Hawaii, Connecticut and California joined Schneiderman in writing a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The letter urges the Senate leaders to reject The National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act and The Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

The letter alleges that the laws would force states to abandon their own gun laws by letting out-of-state visitors carry concealed firearms based on their home state's laws rather than the ones of the state they are entering. According to the attorneys general, the laws would undermine the ability of police to verify the validity of gun permits and would make gun trafficking easier in their states.

"These two bills would force states to recognize concealed carry permits issued by any other states, even those with poor oversight and weaker permitting standards," the attorneys general said. "These bills would create a lowest common denominator approach to public safety that would endanger police and make it more difficult to prosecute gun traffickers."
The two bills are currently pending in Congress.
A 2010 study found that close to half of the guns crossing state lines prior to being recovered in crimes came from 10 states, most of them with comparatively weak gun laws. The study demonstrated that weak gun laws in other states could have negative public safety impact in states like New York.
Schneiderman won a court victory in defense of state gun safety laws earlier this week when a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to the state's handgun licensing statue. The panel ruled in Kachalsky, et al. v. Cacace that the law requiring individuals to show proper cause to obtain a license to carry concealed handguns in public is not in violation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution.