Gazzola v. Hochul

What the court held

Eight New York firearms and ammunition dealers, a pawnbroker, and a collectors association challenged New York's commercial regulations on gun dealers -- locked safes and alarms, state-designed employee training, monthly inventory checks, on-site police inspections, and semiannual records submissions -- arguing the costs would force them out of business and thereby burden their customers' Second Amendment right to acquire firearms, and that several provisions were preempted by federal law. The Second Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction, holding that the dealers presented no evidence the provisions would threaten customers' ability to acquire firearms and showed no conflict with federal law. It further held the individual plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the semiautomatic rifle licensing requirement, the ammunition background-check requirement, and the concealed-carry training requirement, none of which applied to them or was traceable to the officials they sued.

Summarized from the court's opinion.

What this case is about

New York licensing and recordkeeping requirements imposed on federal firearms licensees

GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.

Key Dates

• 2023-12-08 — Decided
• 2023-03-20 — Argued

Sources

• CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08