Back in 2022, after Bruen, Antonyuk v. Hochul, 1:22-cv-00986, (N.D.N.Y. Nov 04, 2025) was filed. This case has gone up and down the court system multiple times. It has even made it to the Supreme Court seeking certiorari at least once.
While it is an interesting case, it won’t become worth writing about again until something worthwhile happens. They will continue to win at the district court level, they will continue to lose at the circuit court level, and they are unlikely to be granted certiorari this term.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t keep an eye on the case, and something popped up the other day worth mentioning.
In the state of NH, CCW permits are granted by the local police chief. In California and Massachusetts, it is also the police that grant carry permits. In the state of New York, it is not the local police that hold sway over who does and who does not get a carry permit.
Instead, it is state judges.
There does not appear to be anything inherently wrong with this arrangement. It is just as reprehensible as every other firearm licensing scheme.
That is until you get into the weeds.
If your local sheriff or police chief denies you your permit, you can sue to get your permit. Just walk down to the local courthouse and file the paperwork, and it happens.
Will you win? That is an entirely different question. And it is a question that has a path to the Supreme Court.
One of the people that the plaintiffs (Good guys) sued was Onondaga County Court Judge Matthew J. Doran, in his official capacity. I assumed that he didn’t grant a permit or something of that sort. I’m too lazy to look up what he did wrong to get sued.
He has now moved the district court to be removed from the case.
— Antonyuk v. Hochul, 1:22-cv-00986, (N.D.N.Y. Nov 04, 2025) ECF No. 159, at 5
Judges cannot be sued for decisions they make as part of being a judge. They can’t be sued for any ruling they make from the bench.
Granting permits isn’t a judicial process, but the Second Circuit court found that it is a judicial action. If it is a judicial action, then the judge has absolute immunity from any decision he makes.
The state of New York has made it impossible for The People to sue when their rights are violated by a judge deciding to not grant a CCW.
- Antonyuk v. Hochul, No. 1:22-cv-00986-GTS-CFH (N.D.N.Y. filed Sept. 20, 2022), ECF No. 159 (Nov. 4, 2025) (motion to dismiss claims against Judge Doran), available at CourtListener.
- Kellogg v. Nichols, 703 F. Supp. 3d 367 (N.D.N.Y. 2023), available at Justia.
- Kellogg v. Nichols, 149 F.4th 155 (2d Cir. 2025), available at Justia.
- Libertarian Party of Erie Cnty. v. Cuomo, 970 F.3d 106 (2d Cir. 2020), abrogated in part on other grounds byN.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), available at FindLaw.
- N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), available at Supreme Court.