New York Gun Laws: Concealed Carry, Open Carry and Buying a Gun

No. Possessing a pistol or revolver is exempt from the weapons-possession crimes only for 'a person to whom a license therefor has been issued as provided under section 400.00 or 400.01'. Concealed carry requires a license under § 400.00(2)(f) to 'have and carry concealed'.

Pistol/revolver license to 'have and carry concealed' (Penal Law § 400.00(2)(f)), issued by the licensing officer of the city or county where the applicant lives, works or has a business (in New York City, the police commissioner). Applicants must be 'twenty-one years of age or older' (no age limit for honorably discharged members of the armed forces or National Guard), must 'meet in person with the licensing officer for an interview', and must give 'no less than four character references' and 'a list of former and current social media accounts of the applicant from the past three years.' Training: 'a minimum of sixteen hours of in-person live curriculum' plus 'a minimum of two hours of a live-fire range training course', with a written test requiring 'a minimum of eighty percent correct answers'. The licensing officer must act 'within six months of the date of presentment' of the application. Fees outside New York City are set by the county at 'not less than three dollars nor more than ten dollars'. Term: carry licenses 'shall be recertified or renewed every three years'; New York City pistol licenses 'expire not more than three years after the date of issuance.'

No. New York's carry license authorizes a person to 'have and carry concealed'; no license authorizes open carry of handguns.

Handguns: a license is required to possess a pistol or revolver, and no license issues except to an applicant 'twenty-one years of age or older' (military exception). Semiautomatic rifles: 'A license for a semiautomatic rifle, other than an assault weapon or disguised gun, shall be issued' to purchase or take possession of one, subject to the same age-21 rule. Other rifles and shotguns: § 400.00 sets no separate age; Penal Law § 265.05 makes it unlawful for 'any person under the age of sixteen to possess' guns, except a holder of a hunting license or permit using a rifle or shotgun under the Environmental Conservation Law.

Yes. 'all sales, exchanges or disposals of firearms, rifles or shotguns shall be conducted in accordance with this section' — a national instant criminal background check 'must be completed by a dealer' — unless the transfer is by a licensed importer, manufacturer or dealer, or 'between members of an immediate family' (defined as 'spouses, domestic partners, children and step-children'). Handguns and semiautomatic rifles additionally require a license under Penal Law § 400.00.

No fixed waiting period for all sales, but if the background check does not return a 'proceed', a dealer may deliver only after 'thirty calendar days have elapsed since the date the licensee contacted NICS' without a denial. Handgun and semiautomatic-rifle buyers must first obtain a license, which the licensing officer must act on within six months.

Yes (CPLR Article 63-A). Petitioners: a law enforcement agency, police officer or district attorney; 'a family or household member'; 'a school administrator'; or a licensed physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, registered nurse (and other listed clinicians) 'who has treated the person against whom the order is sought in the six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition.' A final extreme risk protection order runs 'for a period of up to one year from the date of the issuance of such order' (measured from the temporary order if one was issued).

Both. 'Assault weapon' includes 'a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept a detachable magazine' and at least one listed feature (folding or telescoping stock, protruding pistol grip, thumbhole stock, second handgrip, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, muzzle brake or compensator or threaded barrel, grenade launcher), with parallel definitions for shotguns and pistols. A 'large capacity ammunition feeding device' is one that 'has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition.'

A handgun may not be possessed at all without a New York license (§ 265.20(a)(3)). For any rifle, shotgun or firearm left in a vehicle: 'No person shall store or otherwise leave a rifle, shotgun, or firearm out of such person's immediate possession or control' in a vehicle 'without first removing the ammunition from and securely locking such rifle, shotgun, or firearm' in 'an appropriate safe storage depository out of sight from outside of the vehicle.' In the version effective until January 19, 2027, the first-degree offense is a class A misdemeanor; the later version classifies failure to store as a violation.

None stated by statute. The licensing exemption covers only 'a person to whom a license therefor has been issued as provided under section 400.00 or 400.01'; nonresidents are exempt only for narrow purposes such as traveling within 48 hours to or from an NRA- or IHMSA-approved pistol competition with the guns 'transported unloaded in a locked opaque container'. A New York license 'shall not be valid within the city of New York' without a special permit from the NYC police commissioner.

Carrying in a 'sensitive location' is a class E felony (§ 265.01-e). Listed places include: places used for 'government administration, including courts'; health and behavioral health facilities; 'any place of worship'; 'libraries, public playgrounds, public parks' and zoos; places that serve children and youth; 'nursery schools, preschools, and summer camps'; facilities licensed by state disability, addiction, mental health and temporary assistance offices; homeless and domestic-violence shelters; residential settings licensed by state agencies; 'educational institutions, colleges and universities'; public transportation and transit; places with an 'active license for on-premise consumption' of alcohol or cannabis; 'theaters, stadiums, racetracks, museums' and similar venues; 'any location being used as a polling place'; restricted public areas for special events; public gatherings to 'collectively express' constitutional rights; and 'the area commonly known as Times Square'. Separately, § 265.01-d makes it a class E felony to carry on private property unless the owner permits it 'by clear and conspicuous signage' or 'express consent'.

Regulated. A 'ghost gun' is 'a firearm, rifle or shotgun that does not comply with the provisions of section 265.07' and is not serialized; an 'unfinished frame or receiver' is 'any unserialized material' shaped so it 'may readily be made into a functional frame or receiver.' Gunsmiths and dealers must 'engrave, cast, stamp or otherwise conspicuously place both a unique serial number and his or her name' on unserialized firearms and frames or receivers they hold and register them with the Division of Criminal Justice Services (failure is a class E felony). Knowingly selling or transferring a ghost gun is 'Criminal sale of a ghost gun in the second degree,' a class E felony (§ 265.60), with a first-degree offense in § 265.61.