Press Release

Attorney General Taylor Joins 26 State Coalition Supporting Second Amendment Concealed Carry for Self Defense Rights

July 20, 2021

(Anchorage, Alaska) –  Today Attorney General Treg Taylor joined 26 other states in an amicus brief in NY State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett which urged the Supreme Court to rule that New York’s anti-gun laws violate the Second Amendment right of all Americans to keep and bear arms.

“I support the Attorney General in his efforts to protect the Second Amendment,” said Governor Mike Dunleavy. “New York’s law threatens to create the haves and have nots—those law-abiding citizens that can bear arms and those that can’t. This is not what our constitution envisioned.”

The State of New York’s law conditions the issuance of a license to carry a concealed weapon on a citizen’s ability to demonstrate to a local official’s satisfaction that the citizen has a special need for self-protection distinguishable from that of the general community or of persons engaged in the same profession.

“New York’s misinterpretation of the Second Amendment threatens the Constitutional rights of not just the citizens of that state, but all others,” said Attorney General Treg Taylor. “Attorneys General have the duty to intervene in cases which may affect the liberties of their citizens.”

Alaska joined the Arizona-and-Missouri led amicus brief with the attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The Supreme Court will begin hearing cases for the term on October 4, 2021.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.