Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Firearm Prohibitions in New York.’ Who Can Have a Gun. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 25 April
Relevant contents
Prohibited Purchasers Generally in New York
Federal law prohibits certain persons from purchasing or possessing firearms, such as felons, certain domestic abusers, and certain people with a history of mental illness.
New York law prohibits any person who is not a citizen of the United States from possessing any firearm. The state also prohibits an individual from possessing a long gun if he or she:
- Has been certified not suitable to possess a long gun by the director or physician in charge of a hospital or institution for mental illness; or
- Has been convicted of a felony or "serious offense," defined to include:
- Illegally using, carrying or possessing a handgun or other dangerous weapon;
- Making or possessing burglar's instruments;
- Buying or receiving stolen property;
- Unlawful entry into a building;
- Aiding escape from prison;
- Certain kinds of disorderly conduct;
- Certain drug offenses or crimes involving sodomy or rape;
- Child endangerment;
- Certain crimes permitting or promoting prostitution; or
- Certain kinds of stalking.
New York law also provides that, subject to certain limited exceptions, no person shall be issued a license to carry, possess or dispose of a firearm (defined to include any handgun, short-barreled rifle or shotgun, or assault weapon) unless he or she:
- Is twenty one-years of age or older (except if he or she has been honorably discharged from the U.S. military or New York national guard, in which case the age limit does not apply);
- Is of good moral character;
- Has not been convicted anywhere of a felony or a serious offense (see above list of crimes deemed "serious offenses");
- Is not a fugitive from justice;
- Is not an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance as defined by federal law at 21 U.S.C. § 802;
- Being an alien:
1) is not illegally in the United States; or
2) has not be admitted into the United States under a non-immigrant visa;
- Has not been discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions;
- Having been a citizen of the United States, has not renounced his or her citizenship;
- Has stated whether he or she has suffered from any mental illness;
- Who has not been involuntarily committed to a facility under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mental Hygiene pursuant to New York law, or has not been civilly confined in a secure treatment facility pursuant to New York law;
- Has not had a handgun license revoked and is not under a suspension or ineligibility order due to a domestic violence restraining order;
- Has successfully completed a firearms safety course and test (applicable in Westchester County only);
- Has not had a guardian appointed for him or her pursuant to New York law, based on a determination that as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incapacity, condition or disease, he or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his or her own affairs; and
- Presents no good cause for the denial of the license….
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]