Gun and Firearm Lawyers in New York

The Second Amendment protects your right to keep and bear arms, and New York has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen that the state’s old “proper cause” rule for carry permits kept law-abiding New Yorkers from exercising their Second Amendment right to carry a handgun in public, and the state answered with the Concealed Carry Improvement Act later that year.

A gun rights lawyer, also called a Second Amendment or firearms lawyer, is an attorney who helps you get, keep, or restore the legal right to own and carry firearms, from your first pistol permit application to a hearing in front of a judge. Outside New York City, Nassau County, and Suffolk County, the licensing officer who decides your permit is a judge in your county, so the forms, the wait, and what the judge expects can change from one county to the next. In Onondaga County, for example, applications go through the Sheriff’s Office Pistol License Unit on South State Street in Syracuse.

Most of the people who contact our gun lawyers are dealing with one of five problems: a new application, a denial, a suspended permit, firearms the police are holding, or an old conviction or hospital stay that now blocks a background check. Each one is covered below. If you were arrested on a weapons charge, our criminal defense lawyers handle the criminal case. Get a consultation and tell us what happened.

To own a handgun in New York, you need a license from the licensing officer where you live or work. Under Penal Law § 400.00, you generally must be 21 or older (honorably discharged members of the military are exempt from the age rule), be of good moral character, and have no felony or “serious offense” conviction anywhere, along with other requirements such as no involuntary psychiatric commitment. The law defines good moral character as having “the essential character, temperament and judgement necessary to be entrusted with a weapon.” Since September 4, 2022, buying a semi-automatic rifle also takes a license.

A concealed carry application asks for much more than it used to. Under the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, you sit for an in-person interview with the licensing officer or a designee, provide four character references, list your spouse or partner and the other adults who live in your home, and finish a 16-hour classroom course and a 2-hour live-fire course. The state explains these rules in its gun safety FAQ, but each county runs its own application, and the paperwork can differ from one county to the next.

A small mistake can cost you months. One of the most common problems we see is an applicant who leaves off an old arrest or ticket because they forgot it or thought it no longer counted. Licensing officers are allowed to see sealed arrest records when you apply, and they may read a missing answer as dishonesty. If your past includes an arrest, a youthful offender case, an order of protection, or a mental health stay, talk to a lawyer before you file.

The law generally gives the licensing officer six months to act on your application. We hear from applicants who have waited far longer, and a lawyer can help you push for an answer. You can also apply if you live in another state. New York’s official guidance says residency and in-state work are not eligibility requirements, and licensing officers may accept applications from nonresidents.

Many denials rest on good moral character, a standard that lets the licensing officer weigh your whole history, including arrests that never led to a conviction. A strong response answers the officer’s concern head-on, with records, references, and proof of how you live today.

New York law gives you 90 days from receiving the denial notice to request a hearing before a state appeals board created by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the State Police. You may also be able to challenge the decision in State Supreme Court through an Article 78 proceeding, which generally must be filed within four months. Courts give licensing officers a lot of room, so the record you build early matters.

We also hear from out-of-state applicants who were turned down because they do not live, work, or own property in the county. The state’s own guidance says residency is not one of the eligibility criteria for a license, and we can help you raise that at your hearing.

A licensing officer can suspend a permit quickly, often before you have a chance to explain. Common triggers include an arrest, an order of protection, a report from a mental health professional, and a lost or stolen gun that was not reported to police within 24 hours, which is itself a misdemeanor.

When a permit is suspended or revoked, you have to surrender the license and your firearms to law enforcement. You may be given a hearing in front of the licensing officer, and that hearing decides whether your permit comes back. Prepare for it the way you would prepare for court. Bring records, character letters, and proof that the problem behind the suspension has been resolved.

If criminal charges led to the suspension, the criminal case matters a great deal. A dismissal helps, but the licensing officer can still weigh the conduct behind the charge when deciding whether to give the permit back. When a judge issues an order of protection in a criminal case, the judge must suspend your license and order your guns surrendered in certain situations, including whenever the judge finds a substantial risk that you may use or threaten to use a firearm against the person the order protects.

Police can take firearms after a domestic incident, under an order of protection, or under an extreme risk protection order, often called a red flag order. You have to ask to get them back, and the steps depend on why they were taken.

Under New York’s red flag law, a police agency, a district attorney, a family or household member, a school administrator, or a licensed health professional who treated you in the past six months can ask a court for an extreme risk protection order. A judge can issue a temporary order first. When that happens, the hearing on a final order is held three to six business days after you are served, and you can ask for more time. At that hearing, the petitioner must prove by clear and convincing evidence that you are likely to cause serious harm to yourself or others. A final order can last up to one year, suspends any license you hold, and can be renewed, so the hearing is your best chance to keep your firearms. Call us as soon as you are served.

When a red flag order or an order of protection ends, you get your firearms back by making a written request to the court. For orders in criminal cases, the district attorney, the protected person, and the licensing officer get notice and a chance to be heard, and the judge orders the guns returned only after finding no legal reason to keep them from you. If the licensing officer moves to revoke your license, the return can be put on hold until that is decided.

Sometimes police say a rifle is illegal to possess because of its features or because it was never registered under New York’s assault weapon law. The answer depends on the gun, when you got it, and what paperwork you have. We review your receipts and records and push back when the state gets it wrong.

A felony or “serious offense” conviction bars a pistol license in New York, and it also bars owning a rifle or shotgun. New York has two main ways to ask for relief. A Certificate of Relief from Disabilities is available to people with no more than one felony conviction. A Certificate of Good Conduct is available after a period of good conduct, from one year for a misdemeanor to five years for a class A or B felony. A certificate can be written to lift specific bars that came with your conviction, and a Certificate of Good Conduct can restore the right to possess a rifle or shotgun unless the conviction was for a class A-I or violent felony.

A conviction for a class A-I felony or a violent felony offense bars a pistol license even with a certificate of relief, and those cases may need a pardon from the Governor. Federal law has its own rules, and whether New York relief also restores your federal rights depends on the conviction and the type of relief.

Sealing your record helps with jobs and housing, but the gun rights question stays, and licensing officers can see sealed records when you apply. Our guide to sealing in New York explains how sealing works. A youthful offender finding is not a criminal conviction under New York law, though the licensing officer may still weigh what happened when judging your character.

An involuntary commitment to a psychiatric hospital brings a federal ban on buying or owning firearms, and the record follows you into the background check database. A voluntary admission, or a stay for observation only, is treated differently. We hear from people who first learned about the ban years later, when a gun store purchase was denied, and from people whose voluntary stay was converted to an involuntary one without their understanding it at the time.

New York has a way to ask for relief. The state’s NICS Hospital Admission Relief Process reviews applications for a Certificate of Relief from the bar tied to a New York psychiatric hospitalization, and it can ask you to complete a clinical evaluation and risk assessment within 90 days. A certificate removes the bar that came from the hospital stay, though you still have to meet every other requirement to buy a gun or get a permit. If you are denied, you generally must wait a year before applying again, so we help you gather treatment records and provider letters and make the strongest application you can the first time.

Under the SAFE Act, a mental health professional who believes a patient is likely to seriously harm themselves or others must report it, and that report can be used to suspend or revoke a pistol license or to deny a new one. We can help you find out whether a report was made and respond to the licensing officer.

New York State Police run the background checks for gun and ammunition sales in New York. A denial can come from a real disqualifier, a records error, or someone else’s record attached to your name. If you are denied, you can get the reason from the State Police and then file an administrative appeal with the New York Attorney General’s office. Long delays happen too, and we can help you find out what is holding up your check and gather the records that clear it.

Having a handgun without a valid license is a crime in New York, and a weapons conviction can end your chances of getting a permit later. Our Syracuse criminal defense team and our Albany criminal defense lawyers defend gun charges, and we keep the permit side of your case in view from the first day.

Every case starts with the paperwork. We read your denial or suspension letter, pull your criminal history and court records, and check every deadline, because some challenges have short windows. Then we build the record the licensing officer, the court, or the state agency needs to see.

People reach out to us about gun rights from counties all over New York, from Onondaga and Albany to Monroe, Broome, Tioga, and the North Country. Our team has helped clients restore their gun rights, and we have offices in Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, Binghamton, and Utica. If we don’t think we can help, we will tell you. Schedule a consultation and learn your options.

These are the questions we hear most often from gun owners and permit applicants across New York.

This page provides general information about New York firearm law and is not legal advice. Laws change, and every case is different. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.