Interesting Gun Case

In the Second Circuit. In Connecticut, a man named Peter Kuck applied for renewal of his carry permit. The Dept. of Public Safety phoned him and told him that he would have to provide proof of citizenship, because permits are not available to non-citizens. Kuck objected, since he had already documented his citizenship back in 1987 when he first obtained his CCW. The DPS denied his renewal and Kuck filed an appeal with the Board of Firearm Permit Examiners. The Board scheduled Kuck's hearing for eighteen months hence. Kuck sued.

The Board told the Court that their extremely heavy workload required such lengthy delays.

Here's the kicker: Kuck was a member of the BFPE and had access to their records. He showed the Court that in a single year, the Board had held only 40 appeal hearings; that's fewer than four a month, hardly a "heavy workload". In the same period, the Board "mooted" 249 appeals; that is, they made the applicant wait for 14-20 months, then quietly approved the application on the eve of the hearing. The Court found that this was consistent with an effort to use bureaucratic delays to deny "due process".

Interesting metric for use against similar regimes (NYC, DC, Chicago, etc.) in the future!

The Volokh Conspiracy, via Of Arms And The Law.

[Update:] One commenter adds: "The Second Circuit covers New York State and its arbitrary, discriminatory, expensive and burdensome pistol licensing scheme. After McDonald comes through, NY’s pistol licensing is in trouble!"

[Update] I should also point out that this decision is limited to a procedural question: now the suit may move forward and be heard on its merits. And another commenter points out, if the state can require proof of citizenship each time you renew your CCW license, can they also require proof of citizenship each time you vote? Hmmmm!