Zachary , et al. v. Suffolk County, New York, et al.

Central Islip, New York civil rights lawyer represented the Plaintiff challenging the Constitutionally of New York gun law.





Zachary Giambalvo, John Mougios, Shane

Mashkow, Kevin McLaughlin, Michael McGregor, Frank Melloni, and

Renaissance Firearms Instruction, Inc. ("RFI”) raise facial Second Amendment

challenges to various provisions of the firearm licensing regime under New York's

Concealed Carry Improvement Act ("CCIA”), as well as to the manner in which

the Suffolk County Police Department ("SCPD”) administers that licensing

regime. Specifically, Giambalvo, Mougios, Mashkow, and McLaughlin

(collectively, the "Applicants”) challenge the constitutionality of the following

license requirements in the CCIA: (1) the "good moral character” requirement,

N.Y. Penal Law § 400.00(1)(b); (2) the requirement that an applicant meet with an

officer in-person for an interview and submit certain information, including the

identity of other adult household members, whether minor children live in their

home, character references, a list of social media accounts, and other information

determined to be reasonably necessary, id. § 400.00(1)(o) & (1)(o)(i)–(v); and (3) the

requirement that an applicant complete eighteen hours of firearms training,

including two hours of live-fire instruction, id. § 400.00(1)(o)(iii). In addition, the

Applicants and McGregor challenge the SCPD's alleged practice of taking more

than 30 days—sometimes as long as two to three years—to process the license

applications. Finally, the Applicants, along with Melloni and RFI (together, the

"Instructors”), challenge the SCPD's alleged policy of arresting individuals

handling firearms during the CCIA's mandated live firearm training, in

contravention of a state-law exemption from liability for unlicensed carry in

connection with such training, see id. § 265.20(a)(3-a) (the "Arrest Policy”).



Plaintiffs moved for a preliminary injunction ordering the SCPD to, inter

alia, cease enforcing the challenged provisions of CCIA's licensing regime, process

all handgun license applications within 30 days, and stop enforcement of the

Arrest Policy. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New

York (Gary R. Brown, Judge), denied the motion, principally concluding that the

Applicants lacked standing to challenge the CCIA's licensing requirements

because they failed to submit to the challenged licensing regime, and that Plaintiffs

lacked standing to challenge the SCPD's Arrest Policy because they did not

demonstrate a credible threat of enforcement. See generally Giambalvo v. Suffolk

Cnty., 656 F. Supp. 3d 374 (E.D.N.Y. 2023).

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.