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Armed Robber Ignores NYC's 'Gun-Free' Policy for Public Transportation

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https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2025/10/18/armed-robber-ignores-nycs-
gun-free-policy-for-public-transportation-n1230302

If you're one of the few New York City residents with a valid carry 
permit, you still can't take your pistol with you when using the city's 
mass transit system, which is one of many "gun-free zones" established by 
New York politicians after the Bruen decision. Prior to 2022 it was 
perfectly legal to carry in a subway car, but it was nearly impossible to 
get a permit to carry. 

Honestly, things haven't improved that much since New York was forced to 
adopt a "shall issue" licensing regime. Applicants are still waiting a 
year or more to be approved, and the onerous application fees are serving 
as a roadblock for many residents who might otherwise apply for a carry 
permit. 

Criminals, meanwhile, are continuing to carry without regard for the law, 
including in places that are off-limits to lawful carry. 

A 57-year-old woman was robbed of her bag inside an Upper West Side subway 
station in a broad-daylight mugging after a stranger put a gun to her 
head, demanding her property, police said Thursday.

“This is real,” the armed mugger seethed as he pressed the gun to the 
woman’s head at the 86th St. subway stop for B and C trains at Central 
Park West on Wednesday.

Police released surveillance photos of the suspect in the hopes someone 
would recognize him.

The victim was in the station’s mezzanine, about to enter a turnstile 
around 11:15 a.m. when the gunman crept up behind her.

After threatening to shoot her, he snatched the woman’s bag, which 
contained an Apple watch, her iPhone, wallet, credit cards and personal 
checks.

The CCTV cameras in the subway stations may help police identify the 
suspect, but they certaintly didn't stop him from carrying out his crime. 
Neither did any of the uniformed officers that regularly patrol the subway 
system. 

Now, given the fact that the armed robber snuck up behind his victim and 
took her by surprise, she might not have been able to fend him off even if 
she was allowed to carry on public transportation and had managed to 
navigate the maze of red tape NYC has erected between residents and their 
right to bear arms. The "gun-free" policy, though, also prevented anyone 
else from lawfully carrying and rendering aid, even if it was just to try 
to hold the armed robber until police arrived. 

The NY Daily News says armed robberies on the subway system are 
"exceedingly rare", and notes that reported incidents are down by 10% so 
far this year, from 347 in mid-October 2024 to 310 this year. That's still 
more than one per day, and that doesn't count the incidents where the 
victim decided not to report what happened to them because they're afraid 
of retaliation or don't believe it would do any good. 

New York isn't going to willingly get rid of its "gun-free" designation 
for public transportation, but the Supreme Court could compel them to do 
so. There are ongoing challenges to New York's ban and other similar 
prohibitions around the country, including a case called Schoenthal v. 
Raoul that has been fully briefed and tried on the merits in the lower 
courts. Though a district court judge ruled that Illinois' ban on 
concealed carry in public transportation settings was unconstitutional, a 
Seventh Circuit panel reversed that decision last month. 

Whether SCOTUS is ready to weigh in on the constitutionality of these 
specific "gun-free zones" is an open question, but given the stakes 
involved for millions of Americans who rely on buses and light rail to get 
around, the justices should grant cert to one of these challenges at the 
first opportunity. Of course, they should have granted cert to an "assault 
weapon" case long ago and we're still waiting for that to happen, so I'm 
tempering my expectations when it comes to SCOTUS and "gun-free" subway 
systems. 


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forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that 
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama 
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the 
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Armed Robber Ignores NYC's 'Gun-Free' Policy for Public Transportation "Leroy N. Soetoro" <leroysoetoro@americans-first.com> - 2025-10-21 18:48 +0000

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