Federal Court: First Amendment Prohibits New York’s Ban on Firearms in Houses of Worship
Court finds the state’s prohibition inconsistent with the nation’s tradition of an individual’s right for self-defense outside the home.
New York, NY—Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected the State of New York’s unconstitutional attempt to make His Tabernacle Family Church (“His Tabernacle”)—and all houses of worship in New York—gun-free zones. First Liberty Institute and the law firms of Clement & Murphy PLLC and Ganguly Brothers PLLC filed the lawsuit on behalf of His Tabernacle, a nondenominational church in Horseheads, New York, founded by Pastor Micheal Spencer. The court affirmed a preliminary injunction blocking the law in December which the state of New York appealed in January of 2023.
You can read the opinion here.
Erin Murphy, Partner at Clement & Murphy said, “The court made it clear that houses of worship have a constitutionally protected freedom to decide for themselves whether to allow otherwise legally possessed firearms into their facilities.”
