NYS Gun Laws

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Paul Mc

Active member
I know this site shies away from Politics and Controversy so lets just file this under FYI then.
For those of you outside of NYS, you may be unaware (and shocked) of the news that we actually need a pistol license to own a pistol. It is an intensely vetted process that takes 6mos if you're lucky, and that is NOT a CC license, it merely allows you to own one.
If you see the first handbook that I got when I got my license, it stipulates that you MUST carry your gun, loaded and concealed to and from the range. On a side note, you are allowed to stop for general errands and a meal, obviously avoid alcohol and probably not a good idea to go to the bank. This is to protect the gun.
Within three years of getting my license, you will see that the next generation handbook says that while you MAY carry loaded and concealed, you are advised NOT to.
I'll then add that within the next few years, it will say you my NOT carry it loaded and concealed, and then it will say, you must leave it locked at the range locker.
SO......my point is to remember this. And when you are told that "relax, no one is coming for your guns", you can remember this insidious erosion of rights that will serve the same purpose.
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Turn in your guns
The government will take care of you
 
In NJ if you carry a gun loaded and concealed to and from the range they will charge you with a crime of the second degree.
 
I got my NY pistol permit several years ago. It was a fairly intense and expensive process. Several letters of recommendation (each notarized), electronically fingerprinted (even though my fingerprints are already on file from professional licenses...$$$), many-hour in-person course (entirely useless), detailed letter explaining why I feel I have the need to have a pistol, appearance before a Supreme Court judge to explain why I feel I have a need for a handgun and answer all of his questions, more wait time, then given a restricted license which allows me to purchase and carry a pistol to and from the range with no stops in between. This is because it is entirely random which judge handles your application. The judge I was assigned has never once given anyone a full carry permit at initial request.

Then I had to wait several months, take a NRA-approved live-fire course ($$$ and largely useless), write another letter to the judge, and was finally granted full carry. Now when I want to purchase a new handgun I must go through a lengthy process (up to 6 months) where the judge must personally approve the addition of the firearm to my permit (plus a small processing fee), then a visit to the county sheriff's office to update my license.

I have an absolutely 100% squeaky clean record. Not even a speeding ticket. I consider myself an upstanding citizen. This is simply par for the course in the county in which I reside.

Then the actual carry restrictions in NY are very prohibitive and difficult to understand for most. One example is no entry to any government building with a handgun. Highway rest areas such as on the Thruway are government buildings. No stopping there if you have a handgun.
 
It would be time for me to move.
However this does bring a valid question. I'll be driving through there in december to ultimately go to Maine...
What are the travel laws for a shotgun.? Last thing I need is a ticket /prison time.
Pretty sure I'm going to be profiled with an Alabama tag
 
D. Hinton said:
It would be time for me to move.
However this does bring a valid question. I'll be driving through there in december to ultimately go to Maine...
What are the travel laws for a shotgun.? Last thing I need is a ticket /prison time.
Pretty sure I'm going to be profiled with an Alabama tag
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as long as you're not going through NYC- cased and unloaded long arms (which is common in many states and basic safety) are not restricted


one of the issues with NY is the pistol permit law is supposed to be a state law, but each county gets to play with it - even with a large city near by this county is not bad - that may change since the governor got to appoint one of his followers as the head of the county recently.

Basically - there are two types of permits - premises (the gun cannot leave the set location) or carry - although many counties added hunting or target practice only restrictions to them. Unitl the (un)safe act a few years ago - a permit was lifetime unless revoked - now they need to be renewed every five years - that was painless when mine came up for renewal-

I have a friend who got his last year - (i have had mine long enough the original is on parchment ) - he asked if he could use me for a reference - I got a call from the sheriff's department a few weeks later - they asked a couple basic questions - how long have I known him, how did I get to know him and is he a good guy - call over - he got it not long after once the assigned judge reviewed the paper work
 
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Rick L said:
D. Hinton said:
It would be time for me to move.
However this does bring a valid question. I'll be driving through there in december to ultimately go to Maine...
What are the travel laws for a shotgun.? Last thing I need is a ticket /prison time.
Pretty sure I'm going to be profiled with an Alabama tag
Click to expand...

as long as you're not going through NYC- cased and unloaded long arms (which is common in many states and basic safety) are not restricted


one of the issues with NY is the pistol permit law is supposed to be a state law, but each county gets to play with it - even with a large city near by this county is not bad - that may change since the governor got to appoint one of his followers as the head of the county recently.

Basically - there are two types of permits - premises (the gun cannot leave the set location) or carry - although many counties added hunting or target practice only restrictions to them. Unitl the (un)safe act a few years ago - a permit was lifetime unless revoked - now they need to be renewed every five years - that was painless when mine came up for renewal-

I have a friend who got his last year - (i have had mine long enough the original is on parchment ) - he asked if he could use me for a reference - I got a call from the sheriff's department a few weeks later - they asked a couple basic questions - how long have I known him, how did I get to know him and is he a good guy - call over - he got it not long after once the assigned judge reviewed the paper work
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"as long s you're not going through NYC". What's the deal with this Rick? I drive over the GW bridge headed north and south on our Fall bird hunting trip to Maine every year. Are we required to take special precautions??

Matt
 
Rod VanZile said:
Why must you carry the gun loaded and concealed to the range? Is this a typo in your post?

RVZ
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Excellent question, and the logic will floor you. No, it's not a typo. The idea is, "well, we didn't want to give you this license in the first place, the last thing we want is you leaving the gun in your car and someone stealing it, so carry it hidden and loaded so you can protect the GUN from getting into the hands of a bad guy if you are attacked."
 
Like said, every county applies the law differently, some, especially upstate counties, it's easier to apply and the permit is granted faster, downstate it's straight forward but very time consuming....where I am, you almost can never get a concealed carry permit, you can get the premises permit which allows hunting, and to and from the range. If to and from the range, the weapon must be unloaded and cased.
going through NYC with a handgun that you legally own is a grey area, it must be unloaded and cased, and you must transit the city without stopping.

The policemen that run the process for this county are actually pretty good, once you have the permit, transfers, add ons, etc. are straight forward with no gotchas....it's the NYS law that sucks.
 
Matt Mahoney said:
"as long as you're not going through NYC". What's the deal with this Rick? I drive over the GW bridge headed north and south on our Fall bird hunting trip to Maine every year. Are we required to take special precautions??

Matt
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NYC regulates/licenses long guns - I am not a lawyer- (and I cannot think of anything that would get me into NYC- had to go there for an IBM class in the 80's, couldn't wait to get out) but as long as you are not stopping or getting stopped you are likely OK

I wouldn't pull off the highway to visit the city even with a cased gun. Being from out of town wouldn't make an unlicensed long gun legal.

technically the federal firearms transportation act says as long as the gun is legal at both ends of the trip you can travel with it cased and unloaded - but testing that with an over zealous vehemently anti-gun jurisdiction like NYC would be expensive -

for example --> https://www.foxnews.com/politics/traveling-mans-gun-arrest-appealed-to-supreme-court you want to guess what being right has cost him?

I remember a case many years ago written up in a hunting magazine - where a guy who stopped ( forget if it was for gas or a meal ) - a cop saw the gun case in his truck and arrested him. by the time he was released his hunting dog had died of exposure in the hot truck -

I expect it's extremely rare to meet with issues - but it can happen - on the way back from a hunting trip to Scotland, a TSA agent in JFK tried to make me leave the airport with my perfectly legal rifle ( out of the airport I would have been illegal) - her reason- I had a duty free bottle of scotch in my carry on but had been directed out of the secure area and back in so had to go through TSA security a second time- I allowed the supervisor to confiscate the rare single malt and was allowedto continue on the way home
 
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J. Overland said:
This is simply par for the course in the county in which I reside.
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And this is the real crime of it all....
I can totally understand how building codes can differ from county to county. But gun laws within the same state? Here's an extraordinary example of this. ON Long Island the rules for Nassau are different than Suffolk, and the laws for Western Suffolk are different than Eastern Suffolk. On the same Island! And that's because the laws in Nassau are interpreted by the NYS Troopers, Western Suffolk by the Suffolk County Police and east of the town of Riverhead, the Sheriff.....
Think about that. So somewhere east of me, there's a guy who can have a Smith & Wesson MP22 and his neighbor across the street cannot.
 
gcs said:
Like said, every county applies the law differently, some, especially upstate counties, it's easier to apply and the permit is granted faster, downstate it's straight forward but very time consuming....where I am, you almost can never get a concealed carry permit, you can get the premises permit which allows hunting, and to and from the range. If to and from the range, the weapon must be unloaded and cased.
going through NYC with a handgun that you legally own is a grey area, it must be unloaded and cased, and you must transit the city without stopping.

The policemen that run the process for this county are actually pretty good, once you have the permit, transfers, add ons, etc. are straight forward with no gotchas....it's the NYS law that sucks.
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What county are you GCS?
 
MP22 should be legal in all counties. We are subject by state law. The governor... Get this, as a dealer the wholesaler will sell me guns, but not ammo to NYS???
Sheriffs will give you a blank purchase voucher, suffolk pd needs purchase receipt with all info to get a voucher. Don't know about other counties.
Go figure...
 
I live in NJ and when I take my yearly duck hunting trips to MS I often fly through LaGuardia or JFK (which are both in NYC), so I always double check back to the rules on traveling in NYC with a fire arm... and here they are.....

"Subject to limited exceptions, possession of a handgun or rifle/shotgun in New York City requires a license (for handguns) or a permit (for rifles/shotguns) issued by the NYPD License Division."
[strike][/strike]
Nonresident of the city in transit is an exception for long guns. No exception for hand guns. So......You are allowed to have a long gun in transit through NYC (the 5 boroughs) for 24 hours. You are also allowed to bring your long gun into NYC to take it to a gun smith (eg. the Beretta shop on Madison ave). Of course it must be unloaded and cased. Pistol without a NYC (not just NYS) handgun license is trip straight to jail. (So if you are traveling to the NYC area by plane and want to bring your pistol, you should strongly consider White Plains or Newark and avoid LGA and JFK)

Here's the section from the administrative code
(1) Non-residents in transit. Any other provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, a non-resident of the city of New York who, without a rifle and shotgun permit issued hereunder, enters the city of New York possessing a rifle or shotgun in the course of transit to a destination outside the city of New York, or a non-resident of the city of New York who enters the city of New York possessing an assault weapon in the course of transit to a destination outside the city of New York, shall have a period of twenty-four hours subsequent to such entering to be exempt from penalty under this chapter for the unlawful possession of a rifle, shotgun or assault weapon, provided that such rifle, shotgun or assault weapon shall at all times be unloaded and in a locked case, or locked automobile trunk, and that said non-resident is lawfully in possession of said rifle, shotgun or assault weapon according to the laws of his or her place of residence.

Here are some links:
NYC Administrative code: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/.../NYCadmin/0-0-0-7024 you'll want Title 10 Chapter 3
Just the firearms section provided by NYSPRA: https://www.nysrpa.org/files/nyc-admincode.pdf

NYPD firearm license/permit page: https://www1.nyc.gov/...censes-firearms.page

Hope this useful.
 
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Capt Rich Geminski said:
MP22 should be legal in all counties. We are subject by state law. The governor... Get this, as a dealer the wholesaler will sell me guns, but not ammo to NYS???
Sheriffs will give you a blank purchase voucher, suffolk pd needs purchase receipt with all info to get a voucher. Don't know about other counties.
Go figure...
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I was denied the MP22 due to its threaded barrel, even though it's tack welded sealed. It's called California Compliant. When I asked why I can't have one, they said "are we in California?" and when I said is Riverhead California? They hung up on me. You, being east of Riverhead would have no problem buying that gun, even if NOT a licensed gun dealer. That gun is legal east of Riverhead.
 
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