NFA Items in New York

NFA Items in New York

Overview

New York State law independently regulates the items the federal National Firearms Act (NFA) covers, and in most cases bans them outright. Federal compliance does not create a defense under New York law. A machine gun, silencer, or similar item can be lawful to register at the federal level and still be a serious New York felony to possess. Compliance with the federal NFA, including paying any tax and registering the item, does not make it legal to possess that item in New York.

What the federal NFA covers

Under 26 U.S.C. 5845(a), the federal NFA regulates these "firearms":

• Machine guns - any weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The term also includes the frame or receiver of such a weapon and any combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun (26 U.S.C. 5845(b)).
• Silencers and suppressors - any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts designed or redesigned and intended for use in assembling or fabricating such a device (26 U.S.C. 5845(a)(7), defined by reference to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(25)).
• Short-barreled rifles (SBRs) - a rifle with a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches, or a weapon made from a rifle with an overall length under 26 inches (26 U.S.C. 5845(a)(3)-(4)).
• Short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) - a shotgun with a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches, or a weapon made from a shotgun with an overall length under 26 inches (26 U.S.C. 5845(a)(1)-(2)).
• Destructive devices - bombs, grenades, certain rockets and missiles, mines, and large-bore weapons over one-half inch in diameter, plus related parts (26 U.S.C. 5845(f)).
• Any Other Weapons (AOWs) - concealable weapons capable of discharging a shot through the energy of an explosive, and similar devices (26 U.S.C. 5845(e)).

New York State prohibitions

Penal Law Article 265 criminalizes possession, manufacture, transport, and disposition of most NFA items. New York uses its own definitions, which appear in Penal Law 265.00.

Silencers and machine guns

• Penal Law 265.02(2) - Criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. A person is guilty when they possess "any explosive or incendiary bomb, bombshell, firearm silencer, machine-gun or any other firearm or weapon simulating a machine-gun and which is adaptable for such use." This is a class D felony.
• Penal Law 265.03(1)(a) - Criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Possessing a machine gun with intent to use it unlawfully against another is a class C felony. Penal Law 265.03(1)(c) applies the same class C felony to possessing a disguised gun with unlawful intent.
• Penal Law 265.00(2) - "Firearm silencer" means any instrument, attachment, weapon or appliance for causing the firing of a gun, revolver, pistol or other firearm to be silent, or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing. Nothing in the definition turns on federal registration.
• Penal Law 265.00(1) - "Machine-gun" means a weapon of any description, irrespective of size, loaded or unloaded, from which a number of shots or bullets may be rapidly or automatically discharged from a magazine with one continuous pull of the trigger, and includes a sub-machine gun. An amendment that took effect August 25, 2026 adds to that definition "any convertible pistol that is equipped with a pistol converter." A convertible pistol with a converter installed is therefore a machine-gun for purposes of Article 265, which brings it inside the class D felony in Penal Law 265.02(2) and, where there is intent to use it unlawfully against another, the class C felony in Penal Law 265.03(1)(a).
• Penal Law 265.00(36) - "Pistol converter", as amended effective August 25, 2026, means a device or instrument that, when installed in or attached to the rear of the slide of a semi-automatic pistol, replaces the backplate and interferes with the trigger mechanism, so that the pistol discharges shots or bullets rapidly or automatically with one continuous pull of the trigger. The earlier text reached a device installed in or attached to the slide generally.
• Penal Law 265.00(37) - "Convertible pistol", added effective August 25, 2026, means a semi-automatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily altered by hand or with common household tools so that it can be converted into a machine-gun by installing or attaching a pistol converter. The subdivision lists the common household tools it means, including screwdrivers, pipe wrenches, pliers, hacksaws, crowbars, drills or rotary tools, hammers, chisels, files and crescent wrenches. It does not include hammer-fired semi-automatic pistols or striker-fired semi-automatic pistols that lack a cruciform trigger bar. A notch, tab or other piece of material on the frame does not prevent ready alteration if it can be readily removed with those tools. "Cruciform trigger bar" is defined in Penal Law 265.00(40).
• A pistol converter is also a "rapid-fire modification device" under Penal Law 265.00(26), so possessing the converter by itself is a separate offense. See below.

Short-barreled rifles and shotguns

New York folds short-barreled long guns into its "firearm" definition. Under Penal Law 265.00(3), "firearm" includes a shotgun with one or more barrels less than 18 inches, a rifle with one or more barrels less than 16 inches, and any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle with an overall length less than 26 inches. Because these qualify as a "firearm," possessing one without a valid New York license is a crime:

• Penal Law 265.01-b - Criminal possession of a firearm. Possessing any firearm (as New York defines it) is a class E felony, absent a license or an applicable exemption.
• An SBR or SBS may also meet New York's separate "assault weapon" definition in Penal Law 265.00(22) depending on configuration, which raises the offense level (see below).

Assault weapons and large capacity magazines

• Penal Law 265.02(7) - Possessing an assault weapon, as defined in Penal Law 265.00(22), is criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a class D felony.
• Penal Law 265.02(8) - Possessing a large capacity ammunition feeding device is a class D felony. Penal Law 265.00(23) defines that device as a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device with a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than ten rounds. See the RESTRICTIONS section for full detail on assault weapons and magazines.
• Penal Law 265.37 - A separate offense covers what a magazine is loaded with. It is unlawful to knowingly possess an ammunition feeding device containing more than seven rounds of ammunition. Inside the possessor's home, a first offense is a violation with a $200 fine and a later offense is a class B misdemeanor. Anywhere other than the home, a first offense is a class B misdemeanor and a later offense is a class A misdemeanor. New York's own summary of changes to the SAFE Act describes suspending the requirement that only magazines holding seven rounds or fewer could be purchased, and says magazines holding up to ten rounds may be purchased. That is a rule about buying a magazine, which is not the same rule as the load limit. The load limit itself was held unconstitutional in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Cuomo, 804 F.3d 242 (2d Cir. 2015), where the Second Circuit concluded that "New York's seven-round load limit does not survive intermediate scrutiny" and affirmed the judgment holding it unconstitutional. Section 265.37 was not repealed, and the court reached that result under intermediate scrutiny, the means-end framework the Supreme Court replaced in Bruen (2022) with a test rooted in text and history. Confirm the current position with the New York State Police at gunsafety.ny.gov before relying on either one.

Manufacture, transport, and disposition

Penal Law 265.10 was amended effective August 25, 2026. The lists and gradings below are the text now in force.

• Penal Law 265.10(1) - Manufacturing, or causing to be manufactured, a machine-gun, ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, firearm silencer, major component of a firearm, assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device or disguised gun is a class D felony. The August 25, 2026 amendment added ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, firearm silencer and major component of a firearm to that list. Manufacturing a rapid-fire modification device is a class E felony.
• Penal Law 265.10(2) - Transporting or shipping a machine-gun, ghost gun, firearm silencer, assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device or disguised gun, or transporting or shipping five or more firearms as merchandise, is a class D felony. Ghost gun was added to that list effective August 25, 2026. Transporting or shipping a rapid-fire modification device is a class E felony.
• Penal Law 265.10(3) - Disposing of a machine-gun, assault weapon, large capacity ammunition feeding device or firearm silencer is a class D felony. Disposing of a rapid-fire modification device is a class E felony. Knowingly buying, receiving, disposing of or concealing a defaced machine-gun, firearm, large capacity ammunition feeding device, rifle or shotgun is also a class D felony.
• Penal Law 265.10(11) - Added effective August 25, 2026. Knowingly selling, offering to sell, transferring, distributing, selling access to, providing or otherwise disposing of digital firearm manufacturing code to a person who does not hold both a valid gunsmith license under Penal Law 400.00 and a valid federal firearms license is a class A misdemeanor. The subdivision states its own exceptions, including a reasonable belief that the recipient will not use the code in violation of the subdivision, neither party being in New York State, and a recipient who holds both licenses.
• Penal Law 265.10(12) - Added effective August 25, 2026. Possessing digital firearm manufacturing code is a class A misdemeanor where the possessor intends to illegally manufacture one of the items described in Penal Law 265.00(1), (2), (3) or (3-a), which are a machine-gun, a firearm silencer, a firearm, or a major component of a firearm, rifle or shotgun, or where the possessor intends to distribute the code to a person in New York who the sender knows or reasonably should know would be prohibited from possessing the product, or to a person in New York who does not hold both a gunsmith license and a valid federal firearms license.
• Penal Law 265.10(10) - A dealer in firearms or gunsmith who, on or after May 31, 2027, sells, transfers, disposes of, or transports or ships as merchandise a convertible pistol is guilty of a class D felony. That subdivision applies beginning May 31, 2027.
• The terms these subdivisions use are defined in Penal Law 265.00: "ghost gun" and "unfinished frame or receiver" in subdivision 32, "major component of a firearm, rifle or shotgun" in subdivision 3-a, "three-dimensional printer" in subdivision 38, and "digital firearm manufacturing code" in subdivision 39. Digital firearm manufacturing code covers computer-aided design files and similar instructions that can program a three-dimensional printer or a CNC milling machine to produce a firearm, rifle, shotgun, ghost gun, unfinished frame or receiver, firearm silencer, rapid-fire modification device or major component of a firearm.

Rapid-fire modification devices (including bump stocks)

• Penal Law 265.01-c - Criminal possession of a rapid-fire modification device. Knowingly possessing one is a class A misdemeanor. Penal Law 265.00(26) defines a "rapid-fire modification device" to include any bump stock, trigger crank, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, pistol converter, or any other device designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm, rifle, or shotgun. "Bump stock" is separately defined in Penal Law 265.00(27).
• This New York ban is independent of federal law. In 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal regulation that had treated bump stocks as machineguns. That decision reached the federal regulation. It did not touch the federal statutory definition of a machinegun in 26 U.S.C. 5845(b), which still covers any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun. It also does not change New York law. Bump stocks, trigger cranks, binary and burst trigger systems and pistol converters remain illegal to possess in New York under Penal Law 265.01-c.

Undetectable firearms

• Penal Law 265.50 - Knowingly manufacturing, selling, exchanging, giving, disposing of, transporting, shipping, or possessing with intent to sell a firearm, rifle or shotgun that is not detectable by a metal detector calibrated to the Security Exemplar after removal of grips, stocks and magazines, or a major component that does not generate an adequate image on airport-type screening equipment, is a class D felony. "Major component of a firearm, rifle or shotgun" is defined in Penal Law 265.00(3-a) as the barrel, the slide or cylinder, the frame, or the receiver.

Federal NFA requirements still apply

Where an NFA item is lawful to possess, the federal process still controls. Federal law requires:

• Registration in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Under 26 U.S.C. 5861(d), it is a federal crime to receive or possess an NFA firearm that is not registered to the possessor in that record.
• ATF approval before transfer (Form 4) or making (Form 1), including fingerprints and photographs.
• Approval before taking possession. Possessing an unregistered NFA firearm is a federal felony.

None of this overrides New York's separate criminal prohibitions. A federally registered silencer or machine gun is still contraband in New York.

Pub. L. 119-21 and the NFA tax

Pub. L. 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025, rewrote the federal making and transfer tax rates. Under 26 U.S.C. 5811(a) and 5821(a) as amended, the tax is $200 for a machine gun or a destructive device and $0 for any other NFA firearm, which includes silencers, SBRs, SBSs, and AOWs. The amendment applies to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025, which makes the first qualifying quarter the one beginning January 1, 2026. Check the ATF for the figure it is currently applying to a given form.

The tax change is a federal matter only. It does not register any item, and it has no effect on New York's independent bans. Lowering or eliminating the federal tax does not make a silencer, machine gun, or other restricted item legal to possess in New York. The federal registration, background check, and approval requirements remain in place even where the tax is $0.

Federal registration is separate from the federal tax

The registration requirement lives in a different statute from the tax, so setting the tax at $0 did not reach it. Under 26 U.S.C. 5861(d) it remains a federal crime to receive or possess an NFA firearm that is not registered to the possessor in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Any future change to the federal registration scheme would be a federal matter. It would not, by itself, repeal New York's separate state-level prohibitions, which rest on independent state statutory authority. Confirm current federal requirements with ATF before acting.

Key takeaways for New York license holders

1. Machine guns, silencers and suppressors, and destructive devices are illegal to possess in New York. No federal license, tax payment, or registration makes them legal under state law.
2. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns fall within New York's "firearm" definition under Penal Law 265.00(3), so possessing one without a license is a felony, and configuration may also trigger the assault weapon rules.
3. Bump stocks, pistol converters and other rapid-fire modification devices remain banned in New York under Penal Law 265.01-c, whatever the federal treatment of a bump stock is.
4. Amendments that took effect August 25, 2026 widened this area. New York's machine-gun definition now reaches a convertible pistol equipped with a pistol converter, and Penal Law 265.10(1) now makes manufacturing a ghost gun, an unfinished frame or receiver, a firearm silencer or a major component of a firearm a class D felony.
5. Trafficking in digital firearm manufacturing code, and possessing it with the intents listed in Penal Law 265.10(12), became class A misdemeanors on August 25, 2026.
6. The federal $0 NFA tax under Pub. L. 119-21 does not change New York law. State prohibitions remain fully enforceable.
7. An NFA item that is legal in a neighboring state becomes felony contraband the moment it enters New York.
8. New York City applies its own stricter handgun and firearm rules on top of state law. Consult NYC requirements separately if you are in the five boroughs.

Relevant statutes

This page is general information, not legal advice. New York firearm law changes frequently and is heavily litigated. Confirm current requirements with the New York State Police and a qualified New York attorney before acting.