PEOPLE v. CARRINGTON (2026)

Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Audrey E. Stone, J. on motion to dismiss;  Seth Steed, J. at plea and sentencing), rendered November 13, 2023, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and sentencing him to a one-year conditional discharge, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant's waiver of the right to appeal does not foreclose from review his Second Amendment claim (see People v. Johnson, – NY3d –, 2025 NY Slip Op 06528, *1 [2025], cert denied – U.S. –, 146 S Ct 2745 [2026] ).  Additionally, he has standing to raise his facial challenge to the constitutionality of New York's firearm licensing scheme, despite never having applied for a firearm license (see id. at *6).

However, defendant's challenge to New York's “good moral character” provision (Penal Law § 400.00[1][b] ) is unavailing, and he has failed to establish that the instant indictment is unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v Bruen (597 U.S. 1 [2022] ) (see Johnson, 2025 NY Slip Op 06528 at *7;  see also United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680, 693 [2024];  Antonyuk v. James, 120 F4th 941, 981–983 [2d Cir2024], cert denied – U.S. –, 145 S Ct 1900 [2025] ).  Defendant's broader challenge to New York's gun licensing regime fails as the Court of Appeals has already determined that it “does not implicate” Bruen's historical tradition framework (Johnson, 2025 NY Slip Op 06528).  In any event, New York's “good moral character” provision does not unconstitutionally confer “open-ended discretion to licensing officials” to grant or deny a firearm license (Bruen, 597 U.S. at 79 [Kavanaugh, J., concurring] ), but rather, is akin to the consideration of “dangerousness,” a provision that, historically, “our Nation's firearm laws have included” to prevent “individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms” (Antonyuk v. James, 120 F4th at 991).