The Ban on Guns in New York Places of Worship Deemed Unconstitutional

By M.C. Millman

Last Thursday, Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. of the Western District of New York ruled New York's ban on carrying firearms inside places of worship violates the Second Amendment, but he still placed the ruling on hold while the State appeals.

Pastor Michael Spencer and his congregation in western New York filed the lawsuit, as he and some of his congregants want to carry firearms while in church as a result of death threats and violent incidents at other places of worship throughout the country in recent years

"No other state in the Union has taken the radical step of completely disarming houses of worship and stripping them of their right to decide who may carry firearms on their premises," the suit argues.

The new ruling follows a previous order challenging the State's Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

"Irrespective of the United States Supreme Court decision, it is Religious Observance that has become criminal in New York State," says Cory Morris, Esq. from The Law Offices of Cory H. Morris representing the NYS Jewish Gun Club in its ongoing lawsuit. "There is no corollary in American history to making such religious observation a felony."

Both rulings are on hold until the appeals process is completed.