Sometimes when I watch a movie or t.v. show (like Law & Order) based in New York, theres a scene where a civilian has a hand gun, but has a permit or license for it. I thought handguns were banned in New York.
So, how easy/hard is it to legally buy a hand gun, and to legally carry it in New York? I’d like to hear from some actual New Yorkers if any are on board.
Not easy at all to legally buy, not easy to get permit. Especially a concealed weapon permit.
YMMV
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nypd/html/dclm/ldinfo.html
Quick google search. I can also tell you that gun permits obtained in Suffolk or Nassau county are NOT valid in NYC.
In general, a permit licenses you to have your handgun (always concealed) under certain conditions. The basic is just in your home, and to/from the gun store or shooting range.
www.packing.org is an excellent source for state gun laws. NYC is covered, although they state you generally must be ‘wealthy or politically connected’ to get a permit. Nice.
It is very difficult to impossible for the average citizen in NYC to get a permit to possess a handgun, and permits to CARRY a conceled handgun in NYC are even more difficult to get.
In the REST of New York State, it is easier to get either type of permit, the level of difficulty depending upon the county in which you reside.
Even if a concealed weapons permit is issued in a non-NYC county, such permits are not valid in NYC. Strangely, NYC CW permits are valid elsewhere in NY State.
For all practical purposes, NYC is almost like a different State when it comes to weapons laws.
Sooooooo…
If it’s rather difficult to get a gun permit in NYC, why do some of these show deplict rather ordinary people having one? Is it the media trying to depict 'Yorks strict gun control as not being that bad (i.e. propaganda) or is it just ignorance on behalf the script writters? Or are you guys not telling something.
If you live outside of NYC, just get a shotgun. No license
needed there!
The NRA lists the relevant New York laws, including:
Getting a “premises only” permit (i.e. a gun kept behind a store counter or in your home) is much easier than getting a carry permit. The latter requires you to show need, the former does not. In either case, the Sullivan Act of 1911 applies strict licensing standards within the city of New York. One might be able to get a gun more easily in some neighboring states, but you’d still need New York licensing to (legally) carry a handgun into NYC.
This article (Copyright © 1998 Fordham University School of Law; Suzanne Novak) details some of the procedure one has to go through to get a handgun license in New York, as well as detailed criticism of the process.
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- An NRA magazine had a story on this a few years back: once some fellow applied for a concealed-carry license and didn’t get it, so he asked why and they wouldn’t say. Then he asked who had been issued licenses, and they wouldn’t say. So he took the NYPD to court to get a list of all the people who had been granted NYC concealed-carry permits and won (the NY police department is supposed to release this info on request, but obviously doesn’t like to). Some of the people were jewelry merchants, but many others were simply rich and famous or politically-connected. Donald Trump, a couple people in J. Paul Getty’s family, as well as the husband of one of the advice sisters (Dear Abby or Ann Landers, I forget which) had one, even though this same lady professed to be against personal firearm ownership in her newspaper advice column. - DougC
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DougC, I’d take any anecdotal information that the NRA puts out with more than a grain of salt. (Ann Landers lived in Chicago; Abby’s in LA, they have been for years, so neither of their husbands could have even applied for a carry permit in NYC.)
Heyduke, getting a permit is tough, getting and carrying a gun is easy, if you know where to go.
“…I’d take any anecdotal information that the NRA puts out with more than a grain of salt…”
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- The article did give the exact details, it’s me that can’t remember them.
“… (Ann Landers lived in Chicago; Abby’s in LA, they have been for years, so neither of their husbands could have even applied for a carry permit in NYC.)…”
- The article did give the exact details, it’s me that can’t remember them.
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- I don’t know which one it was, but it was the husband of one of them that was specifically mentioned. By the by, where are their legal residences? - DougC
Hayduke, handguns are not banned in NY©, Chicago and Washington DC are the two cities with comprehensive handgun bans. One factor that might confuse you is that most (IIRC) states don’t require a permit to own a handgun, but just to carry one concealed in public. In NYC, it’s illegal to possess a handgun at all without a permit and the permit authorises what areas it can be carried in.
Buying a handgun in NY involves going through the application process, which you’d probably go to a gun store or range to find someone to coach you through it (if you cross an i or dot a t, it will take forever from what I’ve heard), and you’d generally pay a few hundred dollars for the permit and help with the docs. Once you’ve got the permit, you can carry (or possess unloaded) the gun at the locations specified on the permit. Getting a permit to possess a handgun at home or at a place of business (and at a range) is not that hard from what I’ve heard, but getting a general carry permit is very difficult unless you either hit one of the categories they tend to issue permits to (people who carry large amounts of cash or valuables, for example, and that will generally be restricted to your place of business and wherever you take the cash), or have political connections.
Since I’ve watched a good bit of L&O, pay attention to the guns private individuals have legally on the show - they’ll have a pistol stored at home and shoot at a range, have one in a store (that one happens pretty often), or be someone with obvious political connections (like that black political leader’s bodyguards in the episode where there was some confusion over who shot him).
The NRA-ILA page that Bryan posted is an excellent reference for firearms laws, though what it lists is a summary of the laws (which is far more useful for what you’re trying to do than the actual text of the laws, since statutes can be rather confusing). However, you want to click on the NYC link toward the top of that page to get the NYC-specific stuff. Also, if you want to see the full laws, you can go to (it’s linked to at the start of the NRA summary pages): http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/statelaws/22edition.htm