Most TTAG readers are aware that after the 2022 Bruen decision striking down New York’s carry law, state legislators quickly passed an equally onerous new law that gun-rights groups have been battling in court ever since.
As if that wasn’t enough, New York anti-gunners recently again displayed their stripes, with an entire town imposing a ban on gun stores within the community.
Babylon Village, a community on the east coast of Long Island about 25 miles outside of New York City, will no longer allow the sales of firearms, ammunition, fireworks or other explosives, according to a story at babylonbeacon.com. Despite some in attendance explaining the unconstitutional nature of the proposal, the town board unanimously approved the measure.
Deputy Mayor Frank Seibert said the statute is all about safety, although he failed to mention how the two are related.
“For safety reasons, I think this is a good policy,” Seibert told the news outlet.
Just as ludicrous, the town’s mayor, Mary Adams, tried to justify the ban by noting that other towns in the area have gun stores, so people wanting to purchase a gun need only travel to those towns to purchase a firearm. What that asinine statement actually shows is that she has little understanding of Constitutional rights and how they work.
Imagine city leaders banning free speech on a critical issue, just because citizens could drive out of town and talk about it all they want. Or imagine banning due process, just because that protection is available in nearby communities.
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) put it best in a recent report on the issue.
“What many of the people who continue to despise the idea of anyone owning firearms still don’t seem to understand (or simply ignore) is that, to possess firearms, you also must be able to acquire them,” NRA-ILA wrote. “Ignoring this rather obvious logical connection, anti-gun extremists continue to do whatever they feel they can to try to limit firearm ownership by limiting the ability to acquire them—in spite of the fact that such actions should be considered unconstitutional by anyone with even the most rudimentary critical thinking skills.”
As a slight compromise, city leaders did carve out an exemption for two gun shows a year. As if infringing on the Second Amendment the other 360-plus days a year is alright as long as those options are available.
Ultimately, there’s little chance the law banning gun sales in Babylon Village will ever stand up to court scrutiny. However, it will cost a lot of money for someone to challenge it in court, and city taxpayers will be footing the bill for Babylon Village to fight in court to save the law.
