TOP 10: Federal court ruling on guns in houses of worship favors Falls pastor (No. 9)
Dec. 21—Violent incidents at religious gathering places, tracked by the non-profit Faith Based Security Network, have increased more than twentyfold since 1999, with 60% of them involving guns.
The statistic isn't lost on the Rev. Jimmie Hardaway Jr. of Trinity Baptist Church on South Avenue and others. The Niagara Falls pastor sued to block a provision of New York's Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), enacted in 2022, that bars individuals from bringing firearms into places of worship.
Hardaway was joined by Rev. Larry Boyd of Open Praise Full Gospel Baptist Church on Fillmore Avenue in Buffalo, and two pro-gun groups, Firearms Policy Coalition, of La Vegas, Nevada and Second Amendment Foundation, of Bellevue, Washington, in seeking the temporary restraining order to block enforcement on the places of worship restriction. The plaintiffs were also seeking to have the entire CCIA struck down as unconstitutional.
Hardaway and Boyd have argued that they would suffer irreparable harm and that their Second Amendment rights would be violated, if the places of worship restriction was not blocked. In an affidavit accompanying the original lawsuit, Hardaway acknowledges that he is a member of the two pro-gun groups involved in the case and that he is licensed to carry a handgun in New York.
While discussing the case earlier this year, Hardaway explained, "The world has changed. There's things that we would not expect to take place in a house of worship that are taking place now. And I would do what I have to do to protect myself and my loved ones, those around me."
In late November of 2022, U.S. District Court Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. of the Western District of New York in Buffalo granted Hardaway and Boyd a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction, blocking the enforcement of the places of worship restriction.
Sinatra said New York went too far in designating "sensitive places."
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the most influential appeals courts in the nation, then heard arguments on the case in March with one of the three justices suggesting that whatever constitutional determination they made was likely to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Prior to the enactment and enforcement of the Place of Worship Ban, I would consistently carry a firearm on Trinity Baptist Church's premises," Hardaway said in an affidavit. "I would intend to keep carrying for self-defense and to keep the peace at Trinity Baptist Church."
In early December, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals also ruled that while the challenge from Hardaway and others continues to work its way through the federal trial courts, New York state may not enforce a provision of the CCIA that bars individuals from bringing firearms into places of worship.
The appeals court judges said the state can't enforce parts of the CCIA that make it a crime to carry a concealed gun onto private property without the express permission of the property owner. That restriction would have kept firearms out of places like shops, supermarkets and restaurants unless the proprietor put a sign up saying guns were welcome.
The panel did, however, allow the state to continue a ban on firearms in so-called "sensitive" locations, such as public transportation, hospitals and schools.
The court also rejected a requirement that applicants for a handgun license turn over a list of social media accounts they maintained over the past three years, citing First Amendment concerns.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called the 2nd Circuit decision a victory.
"Now, even after a year of legal assault from right-wing extremists, core tenets of our laws remain in effect," she said in a statement.
The ruling by the appeals court was at an early stage of a legal battle seen as likely to wind up before the Supreme Court.
