Ammo Land: Nearly All New York City Hotels To Ban Guns
By JOHN CRUMP
July 7, 2022
New York City hotels will ban guns on their property after a deal between the Hotel Association of New York City and the New York Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO (HTC), was reached.
The deal will make almost all hotel rooms in the city gun-free zones for law-abiding citizens unless the guest is an on-duty police officer. This agreement comes on the heels of the landmark Supreme Court case, New York State Pistol Rifle Association v. Bruen. After the Bruen decision affirmed the right of an individual to carry a firearm outside the home for self-defense, the Hotel Trades Council wrote a letter to state lawmakers, asking them to pass the anti-gun bill that would designate much of the state as a “sensitive area.”
The HTC is New York City’s hotel employees’ union and represents virtually all hotel and motel workers in all five boroughs of the city. The powerful hotel workers union represents nearly 75% of all hotel workers in the city. About 40,000 non-managerial hospitality and gaming employees are union members in New York and Northern New Jersey.
The bill passed by the New York Legislature designated all of Time Square, sidewalks used for permitted events, hospitals, parks, playgrounds, government buildings, schools, daycares, and many more places as “sensitive areas.” These places also include private businesses such as hotels. Much of the state is now considered off-limits to people carrying firearms. In many ways, citizens of the Empire State are even more restricted now when it comes to guns than before SCOTUS issued its opinion in Bruen.
After the passage of the bill, the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council pressured the Hotel Association of NYC to make the move to ban guns. The Hotel Association of NYC is a trade group representing almost all hotels across the five boroughs of New York City. Over 300 hotels are members of the Association.
Hotels in New York City will use the new Constitutionally questionable state laws to prevent visitors to the Big Apple from exercising their Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. There are 80,000 rooms in these hotels, meaning that tens of thousands of American tourists will be affected by the new rule.
“This is really important because it’s a destination marketplace for the world,” Vijay Dandapani, President & CEO, Hotel Association of NYC, said. “The focus of this is entirely on the safety of the people coming in here.”
The details of the ban’s implementation have not been fully worked out. The HTC is leaving the agreement’s implementation to the Hotel Association of NYC to put the gun ban into effect. The websites of each hotel will be changed to reflect the new anti-gun policy. That change will be implemented by each hotel individually. It hasn’t been decided if the potential guest will be told about the city-wide policy by the hotel at the time of booking.
The new policy is expected to roll out in the next few weeks. Potential lawsuits challenging New York’s new laws are also likely to be filed in the next few months as well.