This section covers New York firearm rules that do not fit cleanly into the other sections of this guide: private sales and the...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
This section covers New York firearm rules that do not fit cleanly into the other sections of this guide: private sales and the universal-background-check requirement, dealer transfers, ammunition rules, magazine capacity, antique and NFA-edge categories, sales to people under 21, mental-health reporting and firearm prohibition, the justification framework that governs justified force, frame and receiver crimes, rapid-fire-device crimes, the hunting overlay, and the federal law that runs in parallel with all of it. If a question does not belong in PERMIT_BASICS, CONSTITUTIONAL_CARRY, CONCEALED_CARRY, OPEN_CARRY, TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS, APPLICATION_PROCESS, FEES_COSTS, RENEWAL_PROCESS, PROHIBITED_PLACES, VEHICLE_CARRY, TRANSPORT, STORAGE, USE_OF_FORCE, CASTLE_DOCTRINE, DUTY_TO_INFORM, UNDER_INFLUENCE, RESTRICTIONS, NFA_ITEMS, RED_FLAG, PREEMPTION, RECIPROCITY, RESOURCES, or FAQ, the short answer is here.
New York is a licensed-carry state, not a permitless or constitutional-carry state. To possess or carry a handgun you need a license to carry under Penal Law 400.00. Most of what shows up in this catch-all is regulated at the state level under Penal Law Article 265 (Firearms and Other Dangerous Weapons), Article 400 (Licenses to Carry, Possess, Repair and Dispose of Firearms and Ammunition), and the Concealed Carry Improvement Act of 2022 (CCIA, L 2022, ch 371), which took effect September 1, 2022. Where another section of this guide owns the operative state-law text, this section cross-references that section. The federal framework, including the Gun Control Act of 1968, the National Firearms Act, and the Supreme Court decisions in Heller, McDonald, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and United States v. Rahimi (2024), sits on top of every New York rule.
The CCIA removed the old "proper cause" standard that Bruen struck down and replaced it with enhanced eligibility rules. Under Penal Law 400.00(1)(b), an applicant must be of "good moral character," which the statute defines as "having the essential character, temperament and judgement necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only in a manner that does not endanger oneself or others." A carry-license applicant under Penal Law 400.00(1)(o) must meet in person with the licensing officer for an interview, supply contact information for a spouse or domestic partner and other adults in the home, supply at least four character references, and certify completion of the required training. The CCIA also required applicants to provide a list of current and former social media accounts from the past three years, but as explained below that social-media-disclosure requirement has been struck down and is not enforced. Under Penal Law 400.00(19), the training is an in-person live firearms safety course of at least 16 hours of classroom curriculum plus at least 2 hours of live-fire range training, for 18 hours total, with an 80 percent written-test score and a live-fire proficiency demonstration.
The social-media-disclosure requirement in Penal Law 400.00(1)(o)(iv) was one of the most heavily litigated pieces of the CCIA. In Antonyuk v. James, the Second Circuit held it unconstitutional. It has been struck down and is not being enforced, so an applicant is not required to disclose social media accounts. The good-moral-character standard, the in-person interview, the four character references, and the 18-hour training requirement all remain operative. For the full licensing walkthrough, see PERMIT_BASICS, APPLICATION_PROCESS, and TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS.
Carrying or possessing a handgun without the required license is charged under Article 265. The base offense is criminal possession of a firearm under Penal Law 265.01-b, a class E felony, which reaches a person who possesses any firearm. New York's definition of "firearm" in Penal Law 265.00(3) means a pistol or revolver, a short-barreled shotgun or rifle, an assault weapon, or certain other concealable weapons, so an unlicensed handgun falls squarely within it. Lesser and greater charges layer on top:
Penal Law 265.20 sets out the statutory exemptions to these offenses. See CONCEALED_CARRY and RESTRICTIONS for the operative carry and prohibitor analysis.
The CCIA created two location regimes that are central to lawful carry. Penal Law 265.01-e makes it a class E felony to possess a firearm, rifle, or shotgun in a "sensitive location" when the person knows or reasonably should know the location is sensitive. The statutory list is long. It includes government buildings and courts, health and behavioral health facilities, places of worship, libraries, public parks, public playgrounds and zoos, schools and colleges, childcare and youth programs, homeless and domestic-violence shelters, public transit and transit facilities, bars and on-premises cannabis-consumption sites, theaters, stadiums, museums, amusement parks and other entertainment and gaming venues, polling places, permitted public gatherings and protests, and the area commonly known as Times Square. The statute also lists exemptions, including active and qualified retired law enforcement under 18 U.S.C. 926B and 926C, certain security guards, active-duty military, and persons lawfully hunting or engaged in firearms training. The sensitive-location restriction is generally operative, and a knowing violation is a criminally enforceable class E felony.
One item on the statutory list is an exception. The place-of-worship restriction under Penal Law 265.01-e(2)(c) is not enforced. A federal district court enjoined that subsection, the Second Circuit affirmed the injunction as to places of worship, and a license holder generally may carry in a place of worship. A place of worship is still private property, so its operator may prohibit firearms through clear signage or property law, and persons responsible for security at the site are separately exempt. Do not treat the place-of-worship criminal ban as currently enforced.
Penal Law 265.01-d created the restricted-location rule, which on its face made private property a default no-carry zone. As written, it made it a class E felony to possess a firearm, rifle, or shotgun on private property where the person knew or reasonably should have known that the owner or lessee had not allowed carry, either by clear and conspicuous signage permitting it or by express consent. That express-consent default has been struck down, and its status is settled. In Christian v. James, No. 24-2847 (2d Cir. May 18, 2026), the Second Circuit held the 265.01-d default unconstitutional as applied to private property open to the public, and in Wolford v. Lopez, No. 24-1046 (U.S. June 25, 2026), the Supreme Court held that such express-consent default bans on public-facing private property violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The operative rule today: a license holder may carry on private property open to the public, such as a store, diner, pharmacy, or gas station, unless the owner actually prohibits firearms by conspicuous signage or actual notice. Owners keep the right to exclude, and a carrier must honor a posted prohibition or a direct instruction to leave, but a carrier does not need to seek the owner's permission first.
Both provisions were challenged in Antonyuk v. James, the litigation that began as Antonyuk v. Hochul and Antonyuk v. Chiumento. In Antonyuk v. James, 120 F.4th 941 (2d Cir. 2024), the Second Circuit upheld the bulk of the CCIA, including the good-moral-character standard and most of the sensitive-location list, and the Supreme Court denied review in 2025. The court carved out the place-of-worship restriction, affirming the injunction against it, and held the social-media-disclosure requirement unconstitutional. The private-property default in Penal Law 265.01-d is now resolved: Christian v. James (2d Cir. 2026) struck it as applied to private property open to the public and, in the same decision, upheld the public-parks sensitive-location ban, and Wolford v. Lopez (U.S. 2026) settled nationwide that such express-consent default bans are unconstitutional. Public parks therefore remain off-limits, while un-posted private property open to the public is not. The sensitive-location categories upheld in Antonyuk and Christian are enforceable as written. See PROHIBITED_PLACES for the operative location analysis.
Unlike most states, New York requires a background check for nearly all private firearm sales. The operative statute is General Business Law 898, not the pistol-licensing statute. Under General Business Law 898, any sale, exchange, or disposal of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun between private parties must run through a federally licensed dealer who requests a NICS check through the New York State Police, unless the transfer is between members of an immediate family. The dealer may not deliver the firearm until NICS issues a "proceed" response, or 30 calendar days pass without a denial. The statute defines "immediate family" as spouses, domestic partners, children, and step-children. A dealer may charge a fee of up to ten dollars per transaction but is not required to facilitate a private sale. A knowing violation of General Business Law 898 is a class A misdemeanor.
The federal rules apply in parallel:
For the operative licensing statute, see PERMIT_BASICS.
New York sets a 21-year-old floor for pistol licensing under Penal Law 400.00(1)(a) (with an exception for honorable military discharge). The CCIA also created a license requirement to purchase or possess a semiautomatic rifle. A person who purchases or takes possession of a semiautomatic rifle without the license required by Penal Law 400.00(2) commits criminal purchase of a semiautomatic rifle under Penal Law 265.65, a class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a class E felony for subsequent offenses. Selling a semiautomatic rifle to a person who lacks that license is criminal sale of a semiautomatic rifle under Penal Law 265.66, a class E felony.
Federal law layers on additional rules:
New York requires a separate state-level point-of-sale background check on ammunition sales in addition to the firearm background check, administered through the New York State Police. A dealer or registered seller of ammunition may not transfer ammunition to a buyer who is not a dealer or registered seller until the buyer passes the check. "Seller of ammunition" is defined in Penal Law 265.00(24). Federal law still applies in parallel:
New York's general magazine capacity limit is 10 rounds. A magazine that holds, or can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition is a "large capacity ammunition feeding device" under Penal Law 265.00(23), with narrow exceptions for a tubular .22 rimfire device and for a feeding device that qualifies as a curio or relic. Possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device is criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree under Penal Law 265.02(8), a class D felony. A separate, lesser offense at Penal Law 265.36 covers knowing possession of a pre-1994 device that holds more than 10 rounds and was lawfully possessed before the 2013 SAFE Act, and that offense is a class A misdemeanor.
A separate statute, Penal Law 265.37, on its face makes it unlawful to possess an ammunition feeding device loaded with more than 7 rounds. That 7-round load limit was struck down as unconstitutional in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Cuomo, 804 F.3d 242 (2d Cir. 2015), and is not enforced. The operative rule is the 10-round magazine capacity limit, not a 7-round load limit.
Federal law at 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16) defines "antique firearm" broadly to include pre-1899 firearms with matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar ignition, replicas of such firearms, and muzzle-loading rifles, shotguns, and pistols designed to use black powder and incapable of using fixed ammunition. Such firearms are not "firearms" under the federal Gun Control Act and are exempt from many federal rules.
New York's definition is narrower. Under Penal Law 265.00(14), an "antique firearm" is limited to an unloaded muzzle-loading pistol or revolver with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar ignition system, or a pistol or revolver that uses fixed cartridges no longer available in ordinary commercial trade. New York's definitions of "rifle" and "shotgun" in Penal Law 265.00(11) and 265.00(12) expressly include muzzle-loading, flintlock, and black powder long guns. The practical result is that a muzzle-loading rifle or shotgun is treated as a rifle or shotgun under New York law and a private sale of one is subject to the General Business Law 898 background-check requirement, even though the same firearm is exempt under federal law.
Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine-guns, destructive devices, and Any Other Weapons registered and lawfully transferred under the federal National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. Chapter 53; definitions at 26 U.S.C. 5845) are generally not lawful to possess in New York absent a narrow state-law exception. New York independently criminalizes most of these items regardless of federal compliance. Possession of a firearm silencer or machine-gun is criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree under Penal Law 265.02(2), a class D felony, and possession of a machine-gun or disguised gun with intent to use it unlawfully is criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree under Penal Law 265.03, a class C felony.
Federal law changed the NFA tax. Under Pub. L. 119-21, the making and transfer tax falls to $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and Any Other Weapons, and remains $200 for machine-guns and destructive devices, effective for calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after July 4, 2025, with the first qualifying quarter starting January 1, 2026. That federal tax change does not alter New York's independent state-level criminal prohibitions. See NFA_ITEMS for the full treatment.
Penal Law 265.01-c makes it a class A misdemeanor to knowingly possess a rapid-fire modification device. Penal Law 265.00(26) defines that device to include any bump stock, trigger crank, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, pistol converter, or other device designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm, rifle, or shotgun. "Pistol converter," sometimes called a Glock switch or auto sear, is separately defined in Penal Law 265.00(36). As a matter of federal law, the Supreme Court in Garland v. Cargill, 602 U.S. 913 (2024), held that a bump stock is not a "machinegun" under the NFA and struck down the federal rule that had classified it as one. That federal ruling does not invalidate New York's independent prohibition under Penal Law 265.01-c, which rests on separate state statutory authority.
New York prohibits unserialized and "unfinished" frames and receivers. An "unfinished frame or receiver" is defined in Penal Law 265.00(32) as unserialized material that has been shaped or formed for the purpose of becoming a frame or receiver and that may readily be made functional through milling, drilling, or other means. Possession is reached through the fourth-degree weapon-possession statute. Under Penal Law 265.01(10), a person who is not a licensed gunsmith or dealer and who knowingly possesses an unserialized or unfinished frame or receiver commits criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a class A misdemeanor, and under Penal Law 265.01(9) the same applies to knowing possession of an unserialized "ghost gun."
Sale offenses are charged separately. Criminal sale of a frame or receiver in the second degree under Penal Law 265.63, for selling, exchanging, giving, or disposing of an unserialized or unfinished frame or receiver, is a class E felony. Criminal sale of a frame or receiver in the first degree under Penal Law 265.64, for disposing of a total of ten or more in a period of not more than one year, is a class D felony.
New York imposes a duty to retreat before using deadly physical force outside the home. Under Penal Law 35.15, a person may not use deadly physical force if the person knows that with complete personal safety to oneself and others the necessity can be avoided by retreating. The statute carves out an exception so that a person is under no duty to retreat when in his or her own dwelling and not the initial aggressor. New York has no stand-your-ground rule. Penal Law 35.20 separately governs the use of force in defense of premises and in defense against burglary. New York does not maintain a stand-alone civil-immunity statute for justified force, and there is no special pretrial immunity hearing. The justification framework in Penal Law Article 35 governs both the criminal-charging and the civil-liability analysis. For the substantive analysis of when force, including deadly force, is permitted, see USE_OF_FORCE and CASTLE_DOCTRINE.
Mental Hygiene Law 9.46 requires certain mental health professionals to report to their local director of community services when, in their reasonable professional judgment, a patient is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others. That information can be matched against firearm-license records, and a 9.46 report is one of the disqualifiers expressly listed in the pistol-licensing eligibility statute, Penal Law 400.00(1)(j). A licensing officer who learns that a licensee is the subject of such a report acts under Penal Law 400.00(11), which governs suspension and revocation of a license. Mental health professionals who exercise reasonable professional judgment in good faith are protected from liability for the reporting decision.
A federal layer overlays the state framework. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(4) prohibits any person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution from possessing firearms or ammunition. For New York's full prohibitor analysis and any state-side relief procedure, see RESTRICTIONS and RED_FLAG.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regulates which firearms and ammunition are legal for which species and seasons. Environmental Conservation Law 11-0931 contains the operative firearm rules for hunting. Subdivision 1 bars hunting with a silencer or an automatic firearm and bars use of an auto-loading firearm constructed to hold more than six shells in the magazine and chamber combined, with exceptions for a .22 rimfire firearm, a firearm altered to hold no more than six shells, and an auto-loading pistol with a barrel less than eight inches long. This six-shell hunting limit is separate from the 10-round general magazine capacity limit in the Penal Law. Subdivision 5 prohibits using a rifle for hunting on Long Island or in Westchester County, and carrying a rifle in the woodlands in those areas is presumptive evidence of illegal use, with an exception for members of an organized target shooting club carrying unloaded rifles to and from a range. For DEC contact information and the current published hunting guide, see RESOURCES.
New York imposes a mandatory reporting duty. Under Penal Law 400.10, any owner or other person lawfully in possession of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun who suffers its loss or theft must report the facts and circumstances to a police department or sheriff's office within 24 hours of discovering the loss or theft. Failure to make that report is a class A misdemeanor. Beyond the legal duty, a prompt police report creates a record that protects the owner if the firearm is later recovered in connection with a crime, and most homeowner and renter insurance policies require a report before paying a claim.
New York City runs its own, stricter handgun-licensing system, administered by the NYPD License Division. It is governed by the New York City Administrative Code, including Section 10-131, and the Rules of the City of New York at Title 38. A handgun license issued by a county outside the city does not automatically authorize carry in New York City. Treat New York City as a separate jurisdiction for licensing purposes. See PREEMPTION for how state and local authority interact.
Every New York firearm question runs in parallel with federal law. The principal federal references:
When state and federal law differ, New York's regime is generally more restrictive. State silence does not displace a federal prohibition, and a New York restriction is independently enforceable even where federal law is permissive.
New York firearm statutes change with the legislative session. The CCIA restructured concealed carry in 2022. The frame-and-receiver and rapid-fire-device statutes have been amended in recent sessions. Federal litigation over the CCIA continues, and the enforcement posture changes as rulings issue. Verify any rule in this section against the current Penal Law, the New York bill tracker, and current State Police guidance before relying on it.
This page covers one part of our New York concealed carry guide.
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