However, a Jewish NYC councilwoman, Inna Vernikov (R), was arrested for exercising her equally important Second Amendment rights. She opposed those supporting Hamas at CUNY-Brooklyn while openly carrying a firearm.
However, this is a right that city officials do not recognize as anywhere close to being equal to the First Amendment.
Some now call for Vernikov to be removed from office. Police sources told the New York Post that the politician “was observed with the butt-end of a firearm protruding from the front portion of her pants.”
She now faces a charge of carrying a firearm on school grounds. The councilwoman went with her lawyer to the 70th Precinct the following day and was given a desk appearance ticket.
However, Vernikov was booked later Friday on a Class E felony which can result in up to two years behind bars.
When confronted by police, Vernikov produced her permit and handed over her weapon. The Post quoted sources saying, “at no point in time was anyone menaced or injured as the result of her possessing the firearm at the earlier protest.”
New York is one of a handful of states that responded to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Bruen decision by passing new laws prohibiting legal carry in a wide swath of places. The clear intention is to circumvent the high court ruling and prevent legal carry of weapons, not just in “sensitive places” but everywhere.
She forcefully spoke outside the protest Thursday afternoon, though the handgun was not visible in her own video.
One protest attendee declared Vernikov should lose her position and have her gun license taken away.
