Some N.Y. sheriffs say they won't enforce the state's new law banning concealed weapons in many public places

Several sheriffs in upstate New York say they don't plan on aggressively enforcing the state's new law that forbids concealed weapons in a long list of public spaces "including, but not limited to, government buildings and religious centers, health facilities and homeless shelters, schools and subways, stadiums and state parks," reports Jesse McKinley and Cole Louison for The New York Times. In an interview Wayne County Sheriff Robert Milby said the law covers "basically everywhere. If anyone thinks we’re going to go out and take a proactive stance against this, that’s not going to happen."

Sheriff Robert Milby
(Lauren Petracca for The New York Times)

The legislature passed the law over the summer. It took effect Sept. 1 but its legality has been the subject of court battles. Last week, a federal judge blocked large portions of it. The New York State Sheriffs' Association called the law a "thoughtless, reactionary action" that punishes law-abiding citizens. The sheriff of mostly rural Montgomery County said that almost every household in his jurisdiction had some sort of gun. Mike Filicetti, the sheriff in Niagara County, said his office will make no arrests on the law without his authorization and that the law is "a very, very low priority for me."

Supporters of the law accused the sheriffs of endangering the public for not supporting the law, McKinley and Louison report. David Pucino, the deputy chief counsel at Giffords Law Center, which works to lessen gun violence, said that several states have laws restricting concealed weapons in places like airports, courthouses and bars. “The statements that we’ve been seeing here are ideological statements,” Pucino said of the sheriffs. “And that’s not an appropriate basis for a sheriff to enforce or not enforce laws.”