Election night didn’t deliver the result New York gun owners were hoping for. Kathy Hochul won a second full term on November 3, beating Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman by roughly 20 points. For the millions of law-abiding New Yorkers who own firearms, that means four more years under a governor who has never met a gun restriction she didn’t like.
We know exactly what to expect, because we’ve already lived it. In June 2022, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen, striking down New York’s “proper cause” requirement and affirming that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm outside the home. Most governors would have taken the hint. Hochul called the ruling “reprehensible” and hauled lawmakers back to Albany for a special session.
Within days she signed the so-called Concealed Carry Improvement Act. Instead of honoring Bruen, it swapped one infringement for dozens more. It created a vague “good moral character” standard, demands for applicants’ social media accounts, sixteen hours of classroom training plus two hours of live fire at the applicant’s expense, and a list of so-called “sensitive places” making it so a permit holder can barely walk a city block without risking a felony. It was the furthest thing from Supreme Court compliance. It was defiance with a signing ceremony.
Body Armor and Second-Class Adults
Hochul’s war on the Second Amendment didn’t stop with carry permits. After the 2022 Buffalo supermarket shooting, she made New York the first state in the nation to ban ordinary citizens from buying body armor. Unless you worked in a profession the state approved, you were forbidden from purchasing a vest designed for one purpose: stopping bullets.
Think about that. The government told law-abiding New Yorkers they couldn’t buy equipment that keeps them from being shot.
On October 21, U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. in Buffalo struck that ban down. He ruled that defensive body armor counts as an “arm” under the Second Amendment and that the state failed to show any historical tradition supporting the ban. It was a clean win in a case brought by the Firearms Policy Coalition. But the judge paused his order to give the state time to appeal, and nobody should expect Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James to let it go. Count on this fight heading to the Second Circuit.
Then there’s her stance on young adults. In September, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the federal ban on handgun sales to 18-to-20-year-olds is unconstitutional and said it would stop enforcing it. Hochul answered the next day on X by saying:
“Not in New York. No teenager should be able to walk into a gun store and buy a handgun. Our laws don’t allow it and that’s not changing.”
Not in New York. No teenager should be able to walk into a gun store and buy a handgun.
Our laws don’t allow it and that’s not changing.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) September 19, 2026
The state’s ban on the sale to 18-to-20-year-olds, isn’t going anywhere, she promised.
So in New York, an 18-year-old can vote, sign a contract, sit on a jury and be sent to war, but he can’t buy a handgun to defend his own life. This is a perfect example of a governor delusional with power.
Candidates Must Be Serious From Day One
Some will say gun owners simply lost an election. I think the lesson runs deeper than that. Bruce Blakeman probably would have been an improvement over Hochul. That’s not a high bar. But throughout this race, he never made clear where he actually stood on guns. Early on, I asked him directly to be specific about his position on the Second Amendment. I didn’t get a straight answer. During the Republican primary, critics within his own party called him soft on gun rights, pointing to his support for background checks and social media reviews for license applicants, the same kind of hoops Hochul built into the CCIA.
Then, about a week before Election Day, Blakeman suddenly came courting gun owners. He has said himself that a million New York gun owners sat out the last governor’s race. He’s right that our votes matter. But you don’t earn a voting bloc’s trust in the final week. You earn it on day one.
That’s the message for every candidate who wants our support. Gun owners are not a box to check in the closing days of a campaign. We pay attention, and we remember who answered our questions and who ducked them. Be specific. Be early. Be consistent. Anything less creates doubt.
Where We Go From Here?
The next four years won’t be easy. Expect appeals of every pro-gun ruling, new bills out of Albany, and more fees, delays and red tape for anyone trying to exercise a right the Constitution already guarantees.
That’s why this is the moment to stand behind the organizations doing the fighting. Nationally, groups like Gun Owners of America, the NRA, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition are taking New York to court and winning. Here at home, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, whose name is on the Bruen decision, and grassroots groups like SCOPE are on the front lines in Albany and in every county. They can only fight as hard as we let them. Join. Donate. Show up. Call your legislators.
And don’t lose hope. Bruen changed the legal landscape. Courts are now judging gun laws by the Constitution’s text and history, and the body armor ruling proves that even in New York, those rules have teeth. Every unconstitutional law Hochul signs is another case waiting to be won.
Our Founding Fathers didn’t write the Second Amendment for the convenience of politicians. They wrote it for free citizens who would never have to ask permission to defend themselves. Kathy Hochul may have won another term, but she doesn’t get the final word. That belongs to the Constitution, and to the people willing to stand up for it.
About Dan Wos, Author – Good Gun Bad Guy
Dan Wos is available for Press Commentary. For more information, contact PR HERE
Dan Wos is a nationally recognized 2nd Amendment advocate, Host of The Loaded Mic, and Author of the “GOOD GUN BAD GUY” book series. He speaks at events, is a contributing writer for many publications, and can be found on radio stations across the country. Dan has been a guest on Newsmax, the Sean Hannity Show, Real America’s Voice, and several others. Speaking on behalf of gun-rights, Dan exposes the strategies of the anti-gun crowd and explains their mission to disarm law-abiding American gun-owners.
