Federal Court Strikes Down New York's Body Armor Ban¶
What happened. In Heeter v. James, Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York held that body armor is an "Arm" protected by the Second Amendment. The court granted FPC summary judgment and permanently enjoined New York's restrictions on buying and selling protective armor, finding the State showed no historical tradition supporting the ban. The court gave New York a 14-day stay pending appeal. Laws against using body armor while committing violent crimes are not affected.
Why it matters. Equipment that only protects a life is about as defensive as it gets. A ruling that it falls under the Second Amendment is a sensible reading of the word "arms."