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Sullivan Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sullivan Act is a controversial gun control law in New York City. It dates to 1911, and is still in force, one of the older gun control laws in the United States. Upon first passage, the Sullivan Act required licenses for New Yorkers to own guns small enough to be concealed.
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The Sullivan Act qualifies as a may issue act, meaning the local police have discretion to issue a concealed carry permit, as opposed to a shall issue act, in which state authorities must give a concealed handgun license to any person who satisfies specific criteria, often a background check and a safety class.
In practice, New York authorities rarely issue permits to anyone except retired police officers and those who have political influence, wealth, or celebrity.
Current and past New York City permit holders include:
- Don Imus
- Harvey Keitel
- Joseph Bruno
- Ronald Lauder
- Edgar Bronfman, Sr.
- Howard Stern
- Donald Trump
- William F. Buckley Jr.
- Joan Rivers
- Arthur Hays Sulzberger
- Robert DeNiro
Some question the constitutionality of the act, due to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, the Supreme Court has never ruled that the Second Amendment applies to state law (See: Incorporation).
Many believe the act was to discriminate against immigrants in New York, particularly Italians, as the first person arrested under the law was mobster Guiseppe Costabile [1]. The police granted the licenses, and could easily discriminate against "undesirable" elements.
After the law was enacted, firearm suicide went down by 40 per cent, but gun murders went up.
Statistics showed that gun murders in New York had risen 50 percent from 1910-1911; indeed, in 1910, mayor William Jay Gaynor was shot and seriously wounded (he later died from the wound; see Timeline of New York City crimes and disasters), and there were public calls for regulation of handguns.