It is similar in basic subject matter to several other cases, such as Woollard v. Sheridan and Moore v. Madigan, filed in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago which applied the Second Amendment as a check on State power as well as Federal, under the selective incorporation doctrine.
(The county judge who made this recommendation is not named specifically in the suit; this is common as lawsuits claiming damages resulting from judicial orders have a very high burden of proof to prevent retaliatory litigation).
He appealed to the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, which in September 2009 held that the Defendants' decision was not "arbitrary or capricious" and would stand.
Oral arguments were heard on August 22, 2012, and on November 27 of the same year, the panel ruling affirmed the District Court decision along similar reasoning.
The court assumed, without deciding, that the Second Amendment does entail a right to bear arms in public, but it held that the "proper cause" requirement passes muster under intermediate scrutiny.
[3] The questions presented were: Certiorari was denied April 15, 2013,[4] however it is expected[5] that the SCOTUS will hear a case like it, as the Circuit Courts are divided in their opinions on the issue of public handgun carry permit policies.