{"id":85423,"date":"2022-09-08T19:25:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-09T00:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=85423"},"modified":"2022-09-08T19:25:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-09T00:25:39","slug":"85423","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=85423","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

5 questions about New York\u2019s new social media requirements for gun applicants<\/a><\/p>\n

New gun laws in New York for those seeking a concealed carry license, including a review of social media accounts by law enforcement, was cleared to go into effect by a federal judge last week, but questions about how the state will enforce it and future legal challenges remain.<\/p>\n

The new rules, part of the state\u2019s Concealed Carry Improvement Act, followed a\u00a0Supreme Court ruling<\/a>\u00a0in June that prohibits states from requiring residents seeking a gun license to prove a special need to carry a handgun outside the home.<\/p>\n

The case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, challenged a provision of New York\u2019s 109-year-old concealed carry law that required applicants to have \u201cproper cause\u201d for the permit \u2014 a special need for self-defense. Five other states had similar laws.<\/p>\n

New York responded with a number of changes, including requiring concealed carry applicants to share \u201ca list of\u00a0former and current social media accounts<\/a>\u201d from the past three years to assess the applicant\u2019s \u201ccharacter and conduct.\u201d The rule comes in the aftermath of mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, where the gunmen reportedly posted warnings about their violence online.<\/p>\n

The new state laws, which also require more classroom and in-person training for concealed carry licenses and the creation of \u201csensitive places\u201d where guns are not permitted, have already been\u00a0met with lawsuits<\/a>. Judge Glenn Suddaby\u00a0declined to put the law on hold<\/a>\u00a0a day before it took effect, saying the New York resident and three gun rights organizations who filed lawsuits didn\u2019t have standing to bring the legal action. But he indicated he believed\u00a0some parts of the laws were unconstitutional<\/a>, and legal experts expect other challenges in the future.<\/p>\n

While written testimonies are common for gun permits across the country, requiring social media records is an added layer that has not been implemented in other places for the purposes of gun permitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI refuse to surrender my right as Governor to protect New Yorkers from gun violence or any other form of harm. In New York State, we will continue leading the way forward and implementing common sense gun safety legislation,\u201d Gov. Kathy Hochul said of the conceal carry changes\u00a0in a statement last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The social media requirement has raised questions about privacy and what states can request in the permitting process.<\/p>\n

Max Markham, vice president of policy and community engagement at the Center for Policing Equity, said he believes the laws as a whole are a \u201cstrong legislative package\u201d when it comes to curbing gun violence. But he said the social media requirement is unclear in its scope and implementation, and will need to be better defined in the near future. He added that he expects conservative groups, in particular, will fight the law on constitutional grounds.<\/p>\n

Markham said the law includes a process to appeal if a person\u2019s application for a concealed carry permit is rejected, which he believes can help increase accountability and provide space \u201cfor individuals who may feel like they\u2019ve been judged incorrectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think seeing how it is enforced and ensuring that there is some degree of equity will be really key,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What is the scope of the law?<\/h2>\n

The wording of the requirement suggests applicants only need to share their public content with officials, and that the purpose of the search is to corroborate written testimony from character witnesses, according to David Greene, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.<\/p>\n

Greene believes the social media rules are intended to look for stated intent to commit crimes with a gun. But Greene said there\u2019s a host of information unrelated to a search for criminality that can be gleaned from accessing someone\u2019s social media history.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] can say a lot about someone\u2019s political affiliations, about the community organizations they belong to, about religious groups they\u2019re active in \u2026 and their familial relationships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Greene said that context \u2013 which is hard to gather from a quick social media scan \u2013 is relevant to what people share on the platforms, and it can be difficult to get that from a profile alone .<\/p>\n

While New York\u2019s new gun law includes welcome changes, such as requiring more firearm training, the social media requirements are a \u201cpoor\u201d part and have \u201cserious\u201d privacy concerns, said Adam Scott Wandt, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI question whether or not that part of the law will subject the state to lawsuits that will eventually find the law unconstitutional. And I also have serious privacy concerns with the state requiring somebody to submit social media accounts for review based upon unclear criteria as to what constitutes \u2018good character\u2019 and moral and what doesn\u2019t. It\u2019s messy,\u201d Wandt said.<\/p>\n

The New York City Bar Association Committee on Technology, Privacy and Cyber, which Wandt co-chairs, did not have time to offer input or feedback on the laws, either, he said..<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s office did not answer a question from the PBS NewsHour about outside expert review on the new set of laws.<\/p>\n

Is social media monitoring for licenses used elsewhere in government?<\/h2>\n

Social media monitoring to get an official government license is a rare official policy but at least one other agency has adopted the practice.<\/p>\n

Greene said visa applicants have been\u00a0required to share their social media accounts<\/a>\u00a0since 2019. The requirements, originally created under the Trump administration, have been\u00a0continued by Joe Biden<\/a>. Users are required to\u00a0provide social media accounts<\/a>\u00a0used in the last five years from a list of 20 platforms. Applicants do have the option to select \u201cnone\u201d if they have not used any of the social media sites.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0State Department<\/a>, the collection and review of social media information is intended to \u201cenhance the screening and vetting of applications for visas and other immigraiton benefits, so as to increase the safety and security of the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wandt said that he is also concerned about social media reporting requirements being expanded to other professional licensing administered by the government, potentially forcing some people seeking these licenses to sacrifice privacy for their work, he said.<\/p>\n

Wandt said there were also questions about how he social media information gleaned from firearm applications will be used or stored by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo these things go into a database when the NYPD pulls me over? Is there a database now that they\u2019ll be able to look at and see my social media because I applied for a handgun? I think there are more questions than answers at this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s office did not respond to a question from the NewsHour about what happens to the records of an applicant\u2019s social media account after a permit is processed.<\/p>\n

Which law enforcement agencies will conduct these searches?<\/h2>\n

Who will grant gun licenses in New York under the new law is dependent on the jurisdiction. In New York City, the NY Police Department issues gun licenses and will check social media accounts. Across the state, there may be some sheriff\u2019s departments who conduct the checks, but in many cases, a county authority, such as a judge, issues the license. However, in those cases, responsibility for ensuring requirements for a gun license are met will still fall to the sheriffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cTroopers remain committed to this mission, and we are dedicated to stopping the criminals who traffic illegal guns and endanger our communities,\u201d State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen\u00a0said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NY Sheriff\u2019s Association Executive Director Peter Kehoe said there is worry by sheriffs that the task of searching through social media accounts would be too difficult. He said there is a risk that law enforcement will miss something in the social media account of someone issued with a gun license who then goes on to commit a crime, putting that responsibility and accountability on the sheriffs.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0Gun applicants in NY will have to hand over social media accounts<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt falls on the sheriff because he missed something when he was given an impossible task,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kehoe adds that the definition of \u201ccharacter and conduct\u201d under the new statute is too vague.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statute says that they have to give us social media accounts and we have to use those to determine whether or not the individual has the right temperament and judgment to be entrusted with a weapon,\u201d Kehoe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we think shows good judgment might not be the next guy\u2019s estimate of good judgment and it\u2019s all gonna be based on the eyes and ears of the person who\u2019s reviewing it,\u201d Kehoe said.<\/p>\n

However, Kehoe denied that political biases would play a role in vetting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to be looking at these accounts. And if they see something concerning, they\u2019re gonna put that in their background report to the judge then it\u2019s gonna be up to the judge to decide, I guess, whether or not that particular concern is disqualifying for the person to have a license.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to the NewsHour, Hochul\u2019s office said the law doesn\u2019t change the nature of licensing, it simply adds a new requirement for applicants.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal law enforcement and licensing officials have always been responsible for evaluating information provided by prospective applicants to determine whether a permit should be issued. The law doesn\u2019t change that,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt simply requires them to consider social media activity and other new information as part of their review process for concealed carry applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is there any training being provided for those doing this vetting?<\/h2>\n

The section of the law that requires applicants to disclose their social media accounts does not detail what training is required for those doing the vetting. Kehoe said law enforcement has not been given additional funding to do training for law enforcement, or to conduct checks of social media accounts. Kehoe expects \u201cmillions\u201d of applicants under New York\u2019s new gun licensing rules, many of whom will have more than one social media account.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust on a very practical level, we don\u2019t think we can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applicants will only be required to provide social media accounts used in the past three years, however, Kehoe said law enforcement may be required to look farther back into those accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statute didn\u2019t provide any resources for us to do this and it\u2019s just not going to be possible to get it done without additional manpower,\u201d Kehoe said.<\/p>\n

Markham hopes the state will provide bias training for officials combing through social media, reflecting a wider push for law enforcement agencies to minimize possible unequal treatment of minority communities.<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s office did not respond to a question about whether additional training or resources would be provided to law enforcement in support of the new requirements.<\/p>\n

Can monitoring social media work?<\/h2>\n

The social media search may catch some people who shouldn\u2019t have access to firearms but many more, including those who might be most dangerous and inhabit the darkest parts of the internet, will slip through the cracks, Wandt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPutting all the constitutional and moral issues aside, I stand by my experience and research that shows me that the truly dangerous, disturbed people have multiple social media accounts, usually not under their real name, and I highly doubt that they will be reported on a application for a carry permit,\u201d Wandt said.<\/p>\n

Greene said asking whether it will work is the wrong question, since he believes such policies can be inherently harmful, especially if other government institutions, such as general law enforcement, adopt similar policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there\u2019s something dangerous about institutionalizing and normalizing having people provide their social media accounts to the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5 questions about New York\u2019s new social media requirements for gun applicants New gun laws in New York for those seeking a concealed carry license, including a review of social media accounts by law enforcement, was cleared to go into effect by a federal judge last week, but questions about how the state will enforce … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,9,50,75,24,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crap-for-brains","category-enemies-foreign-domestic","category-goobermint","category-media","category-rights","category-rkba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=85423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85424,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85423\/revisions\/85424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}