New York City limits on transporting guns eased in effort to get Supreme Court challenge dismissed

New York City announced Friday it has amended rules restricting where licensed guns can be taken outside the home, a move intended to prompt the Supreme Court to dismiss a challenge from gun rights groups. The change, posted on a city website without fanfare, allows gun owners to take their firearms to a home, business or shooting range outside city limits. Until now, the city had limited those with possession licenses to seven shooting ranges inside city limits.  

G​​​​​​un owners who sought to take their firearms to second homes or shooting ranges outside the city challenged the rules in federal court, but the rules were upheld last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Supreme Court agreed in January to hear the case next fall.

Gun control groups had urged the city to change its rules in hopes a quick surrender would prompt the justices to drop the case. The city's police department held a public hearing last month on the proposed changes and announced a final rule Friday that will take effect in 30 days.

"The Police Department ... reviewed the rules and determined that it was possible to modify them to reflect a carefully considered accommodation to the interests of licensees while also ensuring the safe transport of handguns," the announcement said.