A defendant in the Second Amendment Foundation’s challenge of New York’s gun control law has filed a brief with the federal appeals court supporting the plaintiffs’ application for a preliminary injunction, a move which SAF’s Alan Gottlieb welcomed as a pleasant surprise. The case is known as Hardaway, Jr. v. Nigrelli.

Gottlieb, who is SAF’s founder and executive vice president, said the brief filed by Niagara County, N.Y. District Attorney Brian D. Seaman reinforces plaintiffs’ assertion that the gun control law, which prohibits concealed carry in broadly-defined “sensitive places” including places of worship, is unconstitutional.

Seaman’s brief states he supports the application for a preliminary injunction “for the purpose of furthering a judicial determination as to the constitutionality of New York Penal Law,” adding, “Therefore, the Court should affirm the Decision and Order of the district court granting the Plaintiffs-Appellees’ application for a preliminary injunction.”

SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Firearms Policy Coalition and citizens Larry A. Boyd and Jimmie Hardaway, Jr., for whom the lawsuit is named. Defendants, in their official capacities, include Seaman, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn and New York State Police Supt. Steven A. Nigrelli.

Federal District Judge John L. Sinatra granted the preliminary injunction and the state appealed to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

“While this is certainly an unusual development,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “we welcome the concurrence of District Attorney Seaman in our effort to secure the preliminary injunction. We believe New York’s gun control scheme is wholly unconstitutional. The New York Legislature apparently believes it is above the law and we are confident that the courts will rein in this blatant attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s directives in the Bruen ruling.”