Case 6:22-cv-06486-JLS Document 56 Filed 12/29/22 Page 31 of 36
Spencer testified that he unaware of what the contours of that exception may be. Lastly, although the District Attorney defendants promise not to prosecute plaintiffs, see Dkt. 40-1, 41, they cannot bind their successors, and nothing prevents them from changing their minds at any time.
In sum, there “can be no question that the challenged restrictions, if enforced, will cause irreparable harm.” See Roman Cath. Diocese of Brooklyn, 141 S.Ct. at 67. Plaintiffs satisfy the irreparable harm element.
- D. Public Interest
The Court must consider whether a preliminary injunction is in the public interest. See Bronx Household of Faith, 331 F.3d at 349. The State argues that it has a compelling interest in “public safety and crime prevention.” Dkt. 43, at 24 (quoting NYSRPA v. Cuomo, 804 F.3d 242, 261 (2d Cir. 2015)). But the State does not show that the lawful carrying of firearms in houses of worship has resulted in an increase in handgun violence, or that public safety would be impaired if this exclusion is enjoined.
A preliminary injunction would, however, serve the public interest of fostering self-defense in houses of worship across the state. The public has a significant interest in the “strong sense of the safety that a licensed concealed handgun regularly provides, or would provide, to the many law-abiding responsible citizens in the state too powerless to physically defend themselves in public without a handgun.” Antonyuk, 2022 WL 3999791, at *36. This is particularly true in light of the violent attacks on houses of worship in recent history, as well as the
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