The NYS Gun Law the Supreme Court Just Struck Down Has a Vaudeville Connection

In the mad frenzy to turn back the clock, the Supreme Court reached back more than twice the calendar distance of Roe v. Wade to overturn New York State’s 1911 Sullivan Act, which requires a concealed carry license. The law is named after Big Tim Sullivan, the Tammany Hall politician who was part owner of a Northwestern vaudeville circuit. My Travalanche post about him is here. For some more context, Paul Moses, author of An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York’s Irish and Italians, wrote a terrific piece about the Sullivan Act here.

For more on vaudeville, please see No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.