New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s aggressive gun-control agenda has suffered another major setback, and this time the controversy centers on something designed to stop bullets rather than fire them.
A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump has ruled that New York’s restrictions on civilian body armor purchases violate the Second Amendment, delivering a significant victory to gun-rights advocates and raising new questions about how far states can go in regulating personal protection.
The October 21, 2026, decision in Heeter v. James challenges a law Hochul championed following the deadly 2022 Buffalo supermarket massacre.
