Questions about moving to New York

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The Grand Inquisitor

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I may be moving to New York for grad school in about two years, and I was wondering what the situation is there for firearm owners. I'm a bit worried as it is because the school is in downtown Manhattan and I imagine that gun laws downtown there are probably the same as they are here (Chicago), but what are things like outside of the city limits? I own my fair share of military rifles and an autoloader pistol and a Taurus revolver - would I have to leave my firearms with my mom while I live in NY?

Hopefully the laws there aren't as bad as I have read.
 
Leave the guns at home.

No handguns unless you want to get a handgun permit, which will probably take you longer than 2 years, cost you an arm and a leg, and will be severely restricted to "target use" only. You may NOT be in possession of any handgun until you get your permit. Otherwise you will be committing a Class D Felony (criminal possession of a weapon).

No long guns that are on the proscribed assault weapons list.

You must register all non-proscribed long guns with NYPD in Brooklyn.

Or consider Southwest Connecticut ... a 45 minute drive/train ride from the City (where you can at least get a carry permit).

p.s. I'm typing this msg. from Midtown.
 
All of your guns are fine except the pistols, and anything NFA you might have... :p Anyway, youre rifles are good to bring in, same with any shotguns you may have.

You will need to leave your pistols with your mother, as you suggested, until such time as you procure a NYS pistol license. Then you're mom can have them shipped from your FFL to your local FFL here in New York. However, and it's a big however, you can not own these fine handguns in the city. If you have a residence outside of it, though, you still have hope of owning a handgun.

But the best advice for all things in NY is don't ask and don't tell when it comes to guns. But that's good advice for most areas of the country. The less people that know, the better.
 
Leave your handguns home. Unless you are a resident with a pistol permit you can't posess them in New York State.
Pre ban military assault rifles are legal (no full auto), as are most other long guns, in New York State. Within NY City limits is another story that some one else will have to answer.
 
We moved from New York when I was 7. My father, who received 2 purple hearts and a silver star in WWII, was unable to have a permit because he didn't have a good enough reason to want one. We moved to Alabama where he bought a pistol the first weekend. I would never live ina state where criminals can carry but citizens cannot. My parents taught us a good lesson in being willing to vote with where we pay our taxes!
 
Having moved from MD to NY just about 18 months ago, I can tell you the handguns are a no-go if you are in NYC. The longarms are also very difficult to deal with. NYC, as opposed to NYS, has its own set of laws that evidently trump the state's supremacy.

Sucks, but that's life in the big city.
 
Some of the things people say…oy :rolleyes:


If you are moving into New York City you will need to get a New York State handgun license for your handguns, and a New York City permit for any long guns. The two systems have nothing to do with each other. It’s also relatively expensive.

Getting a Premise handgun license is easy in terms of qualification, but a pain in the butt in terms of process. It’s $439 and takes about 9-10 months from the time you hand in your application. You’ll be fingerprinted and interviewed on the phone. Obviously, background checks will be performed. Everything has to be done in person, there are long waits, and the application has to be type written. Like I said...a pain. The fact that you own guns already is a big plus and should be mentioned. You can’t get a carry license except for business purposes. You can only get a Premise license which lets you have the gun at the ready while at home, and allows you to transport it unloaded and locked in a container to an authorized location.

I don’t have a rifle permit but I hear it’s also fairly easy to get. I believe the fee is $110, but don’t quote me on that. It takes about 6 months.

To get your handguns to NY you MUST ship them from an FFL, to an FFL in NY Don't listen to people that tell you "federal law permits this..." and "federal law permits that..." The NY rules that NY dealers must follow doesn't permit any other way. You don’t have to use an FFL in NYC, so shop around for the lowest fee. When I moved back to NY I had an FFL mail all my handguns to a NY dealer. When I was interviewed I told the officer about my guns at the dealer. He had me fax over a letter from the dealer stating that they were holding my guns, and listing all the makes, models, and serial numbers. When I got my license, all my guns had been listed, saving me the trouble of getting them added one by one. (yes, that’s right...every handgun you possess is listed on the license and NYC has a stupid 1 gun every three months rule[not law]) All this licensing hoopla goes on at 1 Police Plaza.

You can bring your long guns with you and drop them at the permit place (I don’t know where it is) and they will hold them for you until you get your permit. Or, just mail the long guns ground to the same FFL that has the handguns. I don’t know how risky it is to leave your long guns with the police, but it will probably save you two transfer fees.

Good Luck!
 
Stay out of NYC

If you must go to NY look into an upstate County. At least you might be able to get a target permit.

The following from your list may be no go due to NYS AW ban:

NIB Norinco 86S bullpup
Armalite AR180B
CUR 2 AKM-74 (Romanian mil-spec)
CETME
Romanian AKM-47

NYS penal law states that AW "lawfully possessed prior to September fourteenth, nineteen Hundred ninety-four" are exempt from the AWB. FWIW, I have heard that that to be interpreted as lawfully possessed in NYS prior to that date. If so all of the above would be banned.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=82&a=68

CT also has an AWB. I'm not sure of the details.
 
I may be moving to New York for grad school in about two years, and I was wondering what the situation is there for firearm owners. I'm a bit worried as it is because the school is in downtown Manhattan
Click to expand...

Well, no one said this yet so ... where would you like to attend? What discipline?
 
In CT I think the only questionable pieces you have are the "AK" types which are forbidden under our silly Assault Weapons ban.

But it's okay to have them in CT as long as they are not select fire (i.e., full-auto only), but then you are subject to the state's annual machine gun registration requirements (every June). :cuss:
 
I think you have to give away all your handguns, all your rifles and cut your nuts off and don a pink tutu before they let you move to NYC.
 
Forget about handguns in NY, since 9/11 everybody is paranoid.
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:rolleyes:

I applied for my license 7 months after 9/11. I got the license and had 4 guns on it right off the bat. The guns didn't even need to be inspected.

I don't understand why people insist on making authoritative comments about things they know nothing about.
 
I was flying back from Germany where I was stationed in the Military and was told as soon as I landed in NY my pistols which were flying on the plane with me would be confiscated even though I had all the proper permits from the ATF to import them into the US just because I did not have a permit for them. I had to change my entire flight schedule at the last minute because I was not warned about this until I was checking in at the airport. Ended up flying into Virginia instead.
 
Graystar, you've lived in Brooklyn your whole life?
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I grew up in Manhattan and lived in Brooklyn for about 9 years before moving to Idaho. I lived in Idaho for two years, which is where I got into target shooting. When I moved back I returned to Brooklyn.

It's funny...people in other parts of the country don't understand the extent to which NYC dwellers are removed from guns. Before I moved to Idaho, guns were just this abstract concept. Even after I was shot in the leg by a 16 yr old maniac with a sawed-off shotgun, the thought that you could actually own a gun for self-defense never occurred to me. Only "bad people" had guns.

Oy :rolleyes:

Now, people think I'm weird or some sort of psycho. My ex-wife's mom thought I was going to go kill her daughter. If they only knew how much THEY are the weird ones!
 
'They are the weird ones'

You got that right. I'm so lucky.

I'm from Htfd, CT. I love Vermont, and Cow Hampshire. :neener: ;-)
 
I don't understand why people insist on making authoritative comments about things they know nothing about.
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I think most of them are referring to actually being able to CARRY the handguns too, something which people in 35+ states take for granted to be a right that goes hand in hand with the right to purchase a pistol.

Also, note that for someone moving into NY and seeking a pistol permit, you must add time to establish residency (6mo or 12 mo,I can't remember what my parents had to wait for before they could fill out the paperwork). Another requirement that my parents and at least 1 friend faced was the requirement for multiple local NY residents not related to you, who could attest to your character. That was a requirement of their local sheriffs,and is in place for at least 2 counties upstate (Jefferson and Monroe) and possibly others. I'm not sure if that applies in NYC as well. Perhaps Graystar can confirm that one. Hopefully the original poster knows someone living there already, or they'll face some awkward requests to their new grad school acquaintances.
So,as the original poster is heading into grad school and moving right before they enter school, given the waiting periods theyought to be able to get their handguns somewhere in the middle of their actual term of study,assuming they can get some folks to act as character references.
 
Perhaps Graystar can confirm that one.
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I had to get two character references, but I don't remember them having to be residents of NY. I also had to get a letter certifying my employment. Technically, you have to be a resident of NYS for 6 months. However, no one knows what the 6 months is for. Before you apply? Before you get the license? I was never asked specifically about how long I was a resident, even though I made it clear I had recently moved to NY from Idaho. I don't know if they inferred it from the information I provided. In any case, by the time you're interviewed you will have been a resident for 6 months. A gun dealer told me I could have applied right away.
 
Interesting,but not unusual for NY counties to vary on procedure.
Per the local sheriff's department my parents had to wait 1 entire year before the department would consider their application. After they applied,they waited about 4 months for approval,at which time I could mail their guns to them.
I distinctly recall that their references had to be from NY and could not be family,even extended family. That made it a bit tougher for newly arrived out of state folks.
I suppose it's a case of "YMMV" when applying.
 
Ya know, it really ticked me about my references when I applied for my permit. Couldn't be family, couldn't be law enforcement, couldn't be elected officials... I mean, come on! Who can I use? That and they all had to be residents of Steuben County. These crazy counties of ours :p

But I agree with you Graystar, the pistol purchasing process in NY is relatively painless and quick.
 
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