Seems I'm about to have company. For the past 40 years, I've had one of the very few handgun permits in NY that allow me unrestricted carry (concealed) outside my home. With today's decision striking down our very restrictive law, I think that I'm about to be joined by quite a few.

I'll be interested to see what NY does now, with maybe modifying existing permits, or maybe issuing new ones, and how fast things get implemented. I don't imagine there will be any rush on things - NY is pretty much against its residents even having a handgun and looks for ways to justify taking away permits.

The weird thing is, while I suspect many people will want to carry in public, I never have. I don't get any benefit from carrying in public and given the tenor of the state, it would likely be a pain in the ass. The gun must be concealed and there have been cases where imprinting (seeing the outline of the gun under clothing) has led to the police being called, leading to a big hassle. Generally, if people see you have a gun, they freak so I expect that while a certain population will be interested in carrying in public, I won't be and never have. My life does not require I be armed at any time, really, and I'm more into the functionality of being armed than the fact of being armed. I go to bed at 10 PM, don't hang out in areas of cities that are dangerous, just don't do anything that might make my life safer with a gun than without one so I'm just not that interested in carrying in public.

And there are a number of people that I know personally who would be interested in carrying in public that I would definitely avoid if I knew they were armed. People who are not safe with their guns now.

Anyways, it will be interesting to see how this evolves.