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M8C Spotting Rifle at the Range
NYC’s Times Square begins enforcement of gun free zone
Amid the bright lights and electronic billboards of New York’s Times Square, city authorities are posting signs proclaiming the bustling crossroads a “Gun Free Zone.”
The sprawling Manhattan tourist attraction is one of scores of “sensitive” places — including parks, churches and theaters — that will be off-limits for guns under a sweeping new state law going into effect Thursday. The measure, passed after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June expanded gun rights, also sets stringent standards for issuing concealed carry permits.
New York is among a half-dozen states that had key provisions of its gun laws invalidated by the high court because of a requirement for applicants to prove they had “proper cause” for a permit. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that she and her fellow Democrats in the state Legislature took action the next week because the ruling “destroyed the ability for a governor to be able to protect her citizens from people who carry concealed weapons anywhere they choose.”
However, the law has led to confusion and court challenges from gun owners who say it improperly limits their constitutional rights.
“They seem to be designed less towards addressing gun violence and more towards simply preventing people from getting guns — even if those people are law-abiding, upstanding citizens, who according to the Supreme Court have the rights to have them,” said Jonathan Corbett, a Brooklyn attorney and permit applicant who is one of several people challenging the law in court.
A federal judge let the new rules go forward Wednesday evening, hours before they were to take effect. Despite writing that the arguments for granting a preliminary injunction to stop the rules were persuasive, Judge Glenn Suddaby said the plaintiffs — an upstate New York resident and three gun rights organizations — didn’t have standing to bring the legal action. Suddaby said he came to that decision partly because the man, a legal gun owner, couldn’t demonstrate he was at risk of a credible threat of prosecution under the new guidelines, among other factors.
In a tweet, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the ruling a major victory “against baseless attacks by the gun lobby.” In an emailed statement, Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, one of groups that filed the challenge, said Suddaby’s opinion “contains a silver lining for New Yorkers and the nation,” and said his group would continue to fight “against clear violations of the Second Amendment.”
Under the law, applicants for a concealed carry permit will have to complete 16 hours of classroom training and two hours of live-fire exercises. Ordinary citizens would be prohibited from bringing guns to schools, churches, subways, theaters and amusement parks — among other places deemed “sensitive” by authorities.
Applicants also will have to provide a list of social media accounts for the past three years as part of a “character and conduct” review. The requirement was added because shooters have sometimes dropped hints of violence online before they opened fire on people.
Sheriffs in some upstate counties said the additional work for their investigators could add to existing backlogs in processing applications.
In Rochester, Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter said it currently takes two to four hours to perform a pistol permit background check on a “clean” candidate. He estimate the new law will add another one to three hours for each permit. The county has about 600 pending pistol permits.
“It’s going to slow everything down just a bit more,” he said.
In the Mohawk Valley, Fulton County Sheriff Richard C. Giardino had questions on how the digital sleuthing would proceed.
“It says three years’ worth of your social media. We’re not going to print out three years of social media posts by everybody. If you look at my Facebook, I send out six or 10 things a day,” said the sheriff, a former district attorney and judge.
The list of prohibited spaces for carrying guns has drawn criticism from advocates who say it’s so extensive it will make it difficult for people with permits to move about in public. People carrying a gun could go into private business only with permission, such as a sign posted on the window.
Giardino has already started giving out signs to local businesses saying people can carry legal firearms on the premises. Jennifer Elson, who owns the Let’s Twist Again Diner in Amsterdam, said she put up the sheriff’s sign, along with one of her own reading in part “per our governor, we have to post this nonsense. If you are a law abiding citizen who obtained a legal permit to carry, you are welcome here.”
But in Times Square — visited by about 50 million tourists annually — and many less-crowded places, carrying a gun will be illegal starting Thursday.
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said Tuesday she looked forward to seeing authorities move to “protect New Yorkers and visitors who frequent Times Square.”
The Supreme Court ruling also led to a flurry of legislation in California to tighten rules on gun ownership, including a new law that could hold gun dealers and manufacturers responsible for any harm caused by anyone they have “reasonable cause to believe is at substantial risk” of using a gun illegally.
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a measure requiring gun permit applicants to undergo personal interviews with a licensing authority.
New Jersey required people to get training before receiving a permit, and would make new residents register guns they bring from out of state.
Hawaii, which has the nation’s lowest number of gun deaths, is still weighing its options. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state has only granted one new gun permit.
While New York doesn’t keep statewide data on pistol permit applications, there are reports of long lines at county clerks’ office and other evidence of a surge in applications before the law takes effect.
In the Mohawk Valley, Pine Tree Rifle Club President Paul Catucci said interest in the club’s volunteer-run safety courses “blew right up” late this summer.
“I had to turn hundreds of them away,” he said.
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Hill and Khan contributed from Albany, New York. AP writer David Porter contributed from New York.
A double rifle and dangerous game go together perfectly; almost all of your shots at dangerous game—especially African dangerous game—are inside of 100 yards, and that quick second shot when facing these animals in the thick bush. It’s a specialty rifle, expensive to produce (at least properly) and is usually associated with the professional hunters. As a visiting sportsman, having an opportunity to use a double rifle against the largest beasts on earth evokes a definite connection with the hunters of a century ago.
While the bolt-action rifles are certainly adequate, and much more affordable, hunting with a double rifle is a unique and fantastic experience. I’m often asked by prospective double rifle buyers for advice on which cartridge to choose; there is a lot of overlap and yet some definite difference in performance. There are also a good number of double rifles chambered for rimless and belted cases, but the classic double rifle cartridge is rimmed, and so my choices will be confined to those. Here are my top five cartridge choices for a double rifle.
1. .450 Nitro Express
Here is perhaps the most historically famous of all the classic cartridges; Rigby released the .450 Nitro Express in 1898, and it became the industry standard. Based on the .450 Black Powder Express, the .450 NE uses a 3¼-inch case and propels a .458-inch-diameter 480-grain bullet to a muzzle velocity of 2150 fps (a formula later replicated by the .458 Winchester Magnum). Most every hunter serious about large game in Africa and India had a .450 NE at one point in time or another, as it was actually considered an all-around rifle cartridge. Straight-walled and smooth to load under stress, the .450 NE generates just over 4,900 ft.-lbs. of energy at the muzzle, and can be housed in a rifle which is easy to carry. The .450 NE will comfortably take any game on earth.
2. .450/400 3″ Nitro Express
Here is another cartridge based on an earlier black powder development, having been released in 1902, it is also known as the .400 Jeffery Nitro Express. Based on the .450 case, shortened to 3 inches—there is a 2½-inch and 3¼-inch version of the .450/400 as well—and necked down to hold .410-inch-diameter 400-grain bullets, the cartridge would find fame in the hands of tiger hunter Jim Corbett, not to mention receiving praise from many of the African hunters. Having an excellent sectional density value (.340), the .450/400 3″ offers plenty of penetration in spite of its mild muzzle velocity of 2050 fps. It has a favorable reputation among visiting hunters, though most PHs feel it is a bit light for a stopping rifle. Generating 3,730 ft.-lbs. of energy at the muzzle, it makes a great choice for buffalo and the cats, and though some feel it’s on the bottom of the scale for elephant, it has taken many, many pachyderms over the years. I used the first Heym Model 89B rifle, chambered in .450/400 3″ NE, to take a good Cape buffalo in the forests of Mozambique’s Coutada 11 with Zambeze Delta Safaris. It’s mild on the shoulder in comparison to the heavier cartridges, and if buffalo are as high up the scale you intend to go, there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing a .450/400 3″ NE as your double rifle cartridge.
3. .500 Nitro Express
The modern iteration of the .500 Nitro Express dates back to the 19th century and is based on a previous design which was fueled by black powder. The big five-hundy is a true stopping rifle, capable of settling the score with charging buffalo, hippo and elephant alike. Driving a 570-grain bullet of .510-inch-diameter to 2150 fps for 5,850 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy, the .500 Nitro uses a 3-inch, straight-walled case. Recoil is not for the faint of heart, but is surprisingly manageable for such a big rifle. If you’re serious about elephant hunting, take a long, hard look at the .500 NE; it handles a pachyderm better than any lesser cartridge and is a very popular choice among professional hunters.
4. .470 Nitro Express
This one is my personal favorite, and is the cartridge I chose for my own double rifle. I’ve used it for both Cape buffalo in Africa and Asiatic water buffalo in Australia, with excellent results. With a 3¼-inch case—based on a 3¼-inch-long version of the .500 NE—the bottlenecked .470 Nitro Express was designed to replicate the ballistics of the .450 Nitro Express. Colonial insurrections in both India and Sudan caused the British Empire to ban .450-caliber rifle and ammunition in those colonies, and gun makers scrambled to create alternatives. There were many, including the .500/465, the .475 and .475 No. 2 Jefferys, and .476 Nitro Express, but the Joseph Lang-designed .470 NE became the most popular, and remains so to this day. Pushing a 500-grain .474-inch-diameter bullet to a muzzle velocity of 2150 fps for 5,140 ft.-lbs. of energy, the .470 will take any game animal anywhere. Rifles will weigh between 10 and 12 pounds, depending on manufacturer, and recoil is manageable. Of all the rimmed double rifle cartridges, ammunition for the .470 NE is the most plentiful.
5. .416 Rigby No. 2
This is, undoubtedly, the newest on this list, and the newest safari cartridge, being released at the end of May 2019. The .416 Rigby No. 2 is nothing other than the famous .416 Rigby with a rim; the same 45-degree shoulder is maintained, and even the same reloading dies can be used, just with a different shellholder. Quite obviously, the .416 Rigby—driving a .400-grain bullet to 2400 fps for just over 5,100 ft.-lbs. of energy—has an unparalleled reputation among African hunters; it offers fantastic penetration, and gives a trajectory that is surprisingly flat for a big rifle. John ‘Pondoro’ Taylor—famous ivory poacher and author of African Rifles and Cartridges—sang the praises of the .416 Rigby and wished for a rimmed version for a double rifle all the way back in the 1940s. Well, John, it only took 75 years, but here it is. Yes, the .500-416 NE offers a similar performance level—albeit a bit slower—the panache of the .416 Rigby No. 2 will definitely appeal to shooters.
While I am limited to just five cartridges for this article, there are many good, useable choices, such as the .375 Holland & Holland Flanged, .450 No. 2, and the .475 No. 2, which I wouldn’t hesitate to use in the field. However, with any one of the five listed above, you’ll have a sensible cartridge in your belt and a smile on your professional hunter’s face.