CRPA Files Letter Regarding NY Ruling On “Vampire” Rule in SB 2 Fight
CRPA has filed a letter to the Ninth Circuit informing it of a final judgment of a federal district court in New York striking down that state’s private property default “vampire” rule. The case is Christian et al. v. James, No. 22-CV-695 (JLS), 2024 WL 4458385 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2024), and these types of rulings can have direct impacts on our case to stop SB 2 (the California law that would make it virtually impossible to conceal carry in the state).
Under the vampire rule, various iterations of which have been passed by a handful of antigun states (including California) after Bruen, even those with a valid CCW permit must have consent before carrying into any business open to the public. The provision effectively kills the right to carry, as even most business owners who are quietly pro-gun won’t want to post a sign affirmatively allowing carry because they do not want to alienate any potential customers or become a target for activists in unfriendly areas.
In granting partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, the district court went through an array of proposed analogs presented by New York and concluded they are “a far cry from a tradition supporting a universal ban of firearms on all property open to the public.”
Currently, the Ninth Circuit is considering en banc review in May v. Bonta and other cases related to gun-free zone laws in California and Hawaii. While the reviewing panel struck down California’s vampire rule, it upheld Hawaii’s version on a small difference between the two laws. CRPA’s en banc petition argues that was erroneous, because no version of a vampire rule is acceptable. That’s why every other court to rule on such a law has struck it down, except for this Ninth Circuit panel.
We hope the New York court’s thorough analysis will be persuasive to the Ninth Circuit, causing it to at least amend its ruling to strike down vampire rules in any form.
The fight over the vampire rule is crucial. Gun control forces know they can’t get around Heller, Bruen, and the Second Amendment, so they’re testing various ways to simply make it so you just can’t exercise them. WE NEED YOUR HELP!