PA Bill Number: HB335

Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.

Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...

Last Action: Re-committed to APPROPRIATIONS

Last Action Date: May 6, 2024

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Should NY judge face same standard as KY clerk? :: 09/06/2015

The Hill reported yesterday that Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton posted a message on Twitter that “Officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law—end of story” after a Kentucky county clerk refused to issue a marriage license to a gay couple and was arrested, but should the same standard apply to a New York judge who allegedly won’t approve an application for a concealed carry permit?

Clinton could comment on this, since she formerly served as a U.S. senator representing the Empire State. To quote the now-embattled former Secretary of State, “uphold the law—end of story.” But is the judge defying a law, or actually following it as he understands it? If not, then Clinton's "end of story" standard might have an embarrassing unintended consequence, perhaps for any official anywhere who refuses to issue a permit to a law-abiding citizen.

It may not be the end of the story for Paul Monpetit, who retired after more than 20 years with the New York Department of Correctional Services and Community Supervision, according to WWNY News. The Fox News affiliate in Watertown reported that Monpetit is considering a lawsuit to force county Judge Jerome Richards to approve his permit application, and the retiree may have company. This could turn into a class action, the story indicated.

The station reported that the judge has apparently been rejecting lots of permit applications. According to the story, this is because of a new regulation adopted by the county government that applicants for “unrestricted” concealed carry permits show “proper cause.” That’s the same sort of requirement that has resulted in lawsuits elsewhere, including the District of Columbia, with mixed results in the courts.

Q. Should concealed carry license applicants be required to show "proper cause" or some special "need?" Share your thoughts below in the "Comments" section.

Putting this in perspective, many states have adopted “shall issue” statutes that do not allow arbitrary rejection of concealed carry applications. Washington state is among them, and to show how successful the legislative mandate has been, on Wednesday the state Department of Licensing advised Examiner that there are now 497,437 active Washington concealed pistol licenses, up from 496,141 at the end of July, a gain of 1,296 CPLs.

Interestingly, King County – which includes Seattle, where a lawsuit was recently filed against a new city tax on firearm and ammunition retail sales – there are more than 92,000 CPLs. It’s the most populous county in the state, and roughly one in five of those licenses are held by women.

According to WWNY, Judge Richards is apparently acting on his interpretation of state penal law dating back to 1980 in a case that was filed against the New York Police Department. This “proper cause” requirement forces a permit applicant in New York to “demonstrate a special need for self-protection.” That sort of thing wouldn’t pass the smell test in a shall-issue state.

The story also said that a Second Amendment group, the Northern New York Freedom Fighters, is gathering paperwork. A spokesman asserted that the judge has to provide a reason for the denials, and he asserted that Judge Richards hasn’t been doing that.

“If a person is trustworthy with a pistol permit, a firearm permit, to hunt and target shoot, he ought to be trustworthy all the way," said group spokesman Larry Kring.

MEANWHILE, Northwest activists should pay attention to a story that unfolded overnight in South Everett, where the suspect in a Thursday evening shooting near the Discovery Elementary School is now in custody. The school was not open, the victims were two teens who couldn’t possibly have been students, and it apparently did not happen on school grounds.

Just how long will it take some gun prohibition group to classify this as a “school shooting?” The victims, a 17-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl, are both at Harborview, according to KOMO News. The suspect is reportedly a 17-year-old, according to the Seattle Times.