Where You Cannot Carry in New York: Prohibited Places

Prohibited Places - New York

Overview

New York is a licensed-carry state. Possessing a handgun requires a license issued under Penal Law 400.00, carrying one in public requires a carry license, and even a valid carry license does not let you carry everywhere. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York's "proper cause" requirement in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (June 23, 2022), the Legislature passed the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), effective September 1, 2022. The CCIA created two new categories of off-limits places:

• Sensitive locations under Penal Law 265.01-e, where carrying a firearm, rifle, or shotgun is a crime for almost everyone, including licensed carriers.
• Restricted locations under Penal Law 265.01-d, which makes private property a default no-carry zone unless the owner or lessee posts a sign or gives express consent. A federal court has permanently enjoined the defendant state officials from enforcing that default as to private property open to the public, and the State Police say they are not enforcing it there. See the litigation note below.

Both statutes carry their own offense (criminal possession, a class E felony) and apply on top of the federal prohibited places that exist nationwide. All twenty categories on the 265.01-e sensitive-location list are in force, so treat every one of them as off-limits. Penal Law 265.01-d has not been repealed and has not been struck down as a whole. What changed is enforcement as to private property open to the public: under the injunction a licensee may carry there unless the owner or lessee prohibits firearms by conspicuous signage or actual notice. As to private property that is not held open to the public, 265.01-d still applies on its own terms.

New York City maintains its own separate, stricter handgun licensing and carry rules under the NYC Administrative Code (10-131) and Title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York. A license to carry or possess issued elsewhere in the state is not valid within the city unless a special permit granting validity is issued by the police commissioner of that city. Penal Law 400.00(6).

The City also sets its own place rule for long guns, and it applies on top of the state offenses. Under NYC Administrative Code 10-131(h)(1), carrying or possessing a loaded rifle or shotgun in public within the city limits is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. Under 10-131(h)(2), carrying or possessing an unloaded rifle or shotgun in public within the city limits is an offense punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or both, unless the rifle or shotgun is completely enclosed, or contained, in a non-transparent carrying case. Subdivision (h)(3) excepts persons in the military service of the state of New York when duly authorized, police officers and peace officers as defined in the Criminal Procedure Law, and participants in special events when authorized by the police commissioner. Treat the City as a distinct jurisdiction.

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Sensitive Locations (Penal Law 265.01-e)

Under Penal Law 265.01-e, a person is guilty of criminal possession of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun in a sensitive location when the person possesses such a weapon in or upon a sensitive location and knows or reasonably should know that the location is a sensitive location. The offense is a class E felony. The prohibition applies to all firearms, rifles, and shotguns, and a concealed carry license does not exempt the holder.

Penal Law 265.01-e(2) defines twenty categories, paragraphs (a) through (t). Every one of them is in force. The paragraph letters are given below so you can check this list against the statute.

Government and courts

• (a) Any place owned or under the control of federal, state, or local government for the purpose of government administration, including courts.

Health and behavioral health

• (b) Any location providing health, behavioral health, or chemical dependence care or services.
• (g), (h), (i) Programs licensed, regulated, certified, operated, or funded by the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, or the Office of Mental Health.
• (l) Residential settings licensed, certified, regulated, funded, or operated by the Department of Health.

Places of worship

• (c) Any place of worship, except for those persons responsible for security at the place of worship.
• The security exception is written into the statute itself. It was added by L. 2023 ch. 55, pt. F, effective May 3, 2023, along with the public-park definition below. Outside that exception, a place of worship is a class E felony location for a licensee. See the litigation note below.

Parks, libraries, and recreation

• (d) Libraries, public playgrounds, public parks, and zoos.
• For purposes of this section, "public park" does not include (i) privately held land within a public park not dedicated to public use, or (ii) the forest preserve as defined in Environmental Conservation Law 9-0101(6).

Children, youth, and families

• (e) Locations of programs licensed, regulated, certified, funded, or approved by the Office of Children and Family Services that serve children, youth, or young adults; legally exempt childcare providers; and childcare programs permitted under the New York City health code.
• (f) Nursery schools, preschools, and summer camps. Certain lawful activities at summer camps are preserved under Penal Law 265.20 subdivisions 7-c, 7-d, and 7-e.
• (j) Programs licensed, regulated, certified, operated, or funded by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Shelters and vulnerable-population housing

• (k) Homeless shelters, runaway homeless youth shelters, family shelters, shelters for adults, domestic violence shelters, emergency shelters, and residential programs for victims of domestic violence.

Educational institutions

• (m) Any building or grounds, owned or leased, of educational institutions, colleges and universities, licensed private career schools, school districts, public schools, private schools licensed under article 101 of the Education Law, charter schools, non-public schools, BOCES, special act schools, preschool special education programs, schools for students with disabilities, and state-operated or state-supported schools.
• School grounds also carry a separate offense. Under Penal Law 265.01-a, a person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds when he or she knowingly has in his or her possession a rifle, shotgun, or firearm in or upon a building or grounds used for educational purposes of any school, college, or university, or, in the statute's words, "upon a school bus as defined in section one hundred forty-two of the vehicle and traffic law," without the written authorization of the educational institution. That offense is a class E felony. It reaches a school bus, which paragraph (m) does not, and it excepts the forestry lands held for the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
• The written authorization route belongs to 265.01-a alone, and the statute limits who a school may authorize. A school as defined in Education Law 1125(10) may not issue that written authorization to a teacher, school administrator, or other person employed at the school who is not primarily employed as a school resource officer, police officer, peace officer, or security guard who holds a special armed guard registration card under General Business Law 89-f, whether employed directly by the school or by a third party. Written authorization from a school is an element of 265.01-a only. It does not take school buildings or grounds off the 265.01-e(2) sensitive-location list, whose exemptions are the ones in 265.01-e(3). Conduct on school property can violate both statutes, each a class E felony.

Public transportation

• (n) Any place, conveyance, or vehicle used for public transportation or public transit, including subway cars, train cars, buses, ferries, railroad, omnibus, and marine or aviation transportation, and any facility used in connection with passenger transportation, including airports, train stations, subway and rail stations, and bus terminals.

Establishments serving alcohol or cannabis

• (o) Any establishment holding an active license for on-premises consumption under article four, four-A, five, or six of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law where alcohol is consumed, and any establishment licensed under article four of the Cannabis Law for on-premises consumption.

Entertainment, gaming, and sporting venues

• (p) Any place used for performance, art, entertainment, gaming, or sporting events, such as theaters, stadiums, racetracks, museums, amusement parks, performance venues, concerts, exhibits, conference centers, banquet halls, and gaming facilities and video lottery terminal facilities licensed by the gaming commission.

Civic and public-gathering locations

• (q) Any location being used as a polling place.
• (r) Any public sidewalk or other public area restricted from general public access for a limited time or special event that has been issued a permit, or is subject to specific heightened law enforcement protection, or has otherwise had access restricted by a governmental entity, provided the location is identified by clear and conspicuous signage.
• (s) Any gathering of individuals to collectively express their constitutional rights to protest or assemble.

Designated geographic zone

• (t) The area commonly known as Times Square, as determined and identified by the City of New York, provided the area is clearly and conspicuously identified with signage.

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Restricted Locations - Private Property (Penal Law 265.01-d)

As written, Penal Law 265.01-d makes private property a default no-carry zone. A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in a restricted location when the person possesses a firearm, rifle, or shotgun and enters or remains on private property knowing, or having reason to know, that the owner or lessee has not permitted such possession. Under the statutory text, permission is given in one of two ways:

1. The owner or lessee posts clear and conspicuous signage indicating that carrying firearms, rifles, or shotguns on the property is permitted; or
2. The owner or lessee otherwise gives express consent.

That express-consent default is under a federal injunction as to private property open to the public. On October 10, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York ordered in Christian v. James, No. 22-cv-00695, that the defendants and those acting with them "are permanently enjoined, effectively immediately, from enforcing N.Y. Pen. L. 265.01-d with respect to private property open to the public, and their regulations, policies, and practices implementing it." The Second Circuit affirmed that permanent injunction on May 18, 2026. Christian v. James, 176 F.4th 189 (2d Cir. 2026). The New York State Police say the same thing in operational terms on gunsafety.ny.gov: "Due to a court ruling NYSP is not currently enforcing this provision with respect to possession of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun upon private property that is held open to the public."

The statute has not been repealed and has not been struck down as a whole. The order binds the named officials and those acting in concert with them, and it reaches only private property open to the public. Within that reach the default flips: a licensee may carry on private property open to the public, such as a store, restaurant, pharmacy, or gas station, unless the owner or lessee prohibits it by conspicuous signage or actual notice. As to private property that is not held open to the public, 265.01-d still applies on its own terms, and possession there still turns on the owner's sign or express consent.

Property owners keep the right to exclude firearms. If an owner posts a no-firearms sign or tells you directly, you must honor it, and carrying on private property that is not open to the public still requires the owner's permission under ordinary property and trespass principles.

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Litigation Status

The CCIA's location rules have been through several rounds of litigation. One provision, 265.01-d as applied to private property open to the public, is under a permanent injunction. Everything else is enforceable, apart from one order about places of worship that runs only to the parties in that case.

• Antonyuk v. James, 120 F.4th 941 (2d Cir. Oct. 24, 2024), certiorari denied April 7, 2025 (No. 24-795). On remand from the Supreme Court, the Second Circuit vacated the preliminary injunctions against the sensitive-location provisions it reached, including the place-of-worship provision, 265.01-e(2)(c), and preserved relief only as to Penal Law 400.00(1)(o)(iv) and 265.01-d as applied to private property held open to the general public. On worship the court held the challenge moot: after the Legislature added the security exception effective May 3, 2023, "the amended statute does not prohibit Mann from doing what he seeks to do."
• Places of worship, in detail. The only court order still barring enforcement of 265.01-e(2)(c) is the injunction in the companion case Spencer v. Chiumento, affirmed as entered in Antonyuk v. Chiumento, 89 F.4th 271, 352 (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 2023). It reaches only "Pastor Spencer, the [Tabernacle Family] Church, its members, or their agents and licensees." That is party-specific relief. Everyone else at a place of worship depends on the statute's own security exception, and an ordinary licensee who is not a person responsible for security there is inside the offense.
• Christian v. James, 176 F.4th 189 (2d Cir. May 18, 2026): affirmed the permanent injunction against the 265.01-d private-property provision as applied to private property open to the public, and upheld the public-parks sensitive-location provision, 265.01-e(2)(d), against a facial challenge. Parks are off-limits. The court declined to reach an as-applied challenge to rural parks because it had not been raised in the district court.
• Frey v. City of New York, No. 23-365-cv (2d Cir. Sept. 19, 2025): affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against the Times Square and public transit provisions, 265.01-e(2)(t) and (2)(n), holding the plaintiffs unlikely to succeed on the merits. Both provisions stay in force.
• Wolford v. Lopez, No. 24-1046 (U.S. June 25, 2026): the Supreme Court held that a Hawaii law barring carry on private property open to the public without the owner's express consent violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. It is a Hawaii case. It did not act on any New York statute, and the Second Circuit had already reached the same conclusion about New York's provision in Christian.

Three matters were open as of late August 2026. In Christian, the stay on the public transit claim was lifted August 17, 2026 and the claim is unresolved, so 265.01-e(2)(n) stays in force. Plaintiffs in Christian said in an August 14, 2026 joint status letter that they anticipated petitioning for certiorari on the public parks ban "before the deadline of September 16, 2026." In Antonyuk, summary judgment briefing runs through September 18, 2026 with no ruling. Confirm the current enforcement status on gunsafety.ny.gov before you rely on any of it.

The practical result: follow the 265.01-e sensitive-location list as written, all twenty paragraphs, and do not treat private property open to the public as off-limits under 265.01-d merely because no sign is posted. The property owner keeps the right to bar firearms, and honoring a posted sign or direct notice is mandatory.

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Exemptions from the Sensitive Location Law (Penal Law 265.01-e(3))

Penal Law 265.01-e(3) states that the sensitive-location offense does not apply to:

• Qualified law enforcement officers authorized to carry concealed firearms under 18 U.S.C. 926B, and qualified retired law enforcement officers authorized to carry under 18 U.S.C. 926C (LEOSA).
• Police officers as defined in Criminal Procedure Law 1.20(34).
• Persons who were employed as police officers as defined in Criminal Procedure Law 1.20(34) but are retired.
• Peace officers designated by Criminal Procedure Law 2.10.
• Security guards defined by and registered under article 7-A of the General Business Law who have been granted a special armed registration card, while at the location of their employment and during their work hours.
• Active-duty military personnel.
• Persons licensed under paragraph (c), (d), or (e) of Penal Law 400.00(2) while in the course of their official duties.
• Government employees, with the express written consent of their supervising government entity, for natural resource protection and management.
• Persons lawfully engaged in taking wildlife under a hunting permit or license issued by the Department of Environmental Conservation, or as otherwise authorized under the Environmental Conservation Law, and persons lawfully engaged in hunter education training, marksmanship practice or competition, or training in the safe handling and use of firearms.
• Persons operating a state- or municipality-licensed, certified, authorized, or funded program out of their residence (a sensitive location), so long as possession complies with the rules governing the program and firearm use or storage.
• Persons employed in the revenue control and security departments of the MTA, the New York City Transit Authority, or an affiliate or subsidiary, who are authorized to carry as part of their employment, while acting within the scope of their duties.
• Persons lawfully engaged in historical reenactments, educational programming involving historical weapons of warfare, or motion picture or theatrical productions.
• Persons responsible for the storage or display of antique firearms, rifles, or shotguns at museums and historic sites, while acting within the scope of their official duties.
• Persons participating in military ceremonies, funerals, and honor guards.
• Persons lawfully learning, practicing, training for, or competing in the sport of biathlon, including travel into or within the state for that purpose.

Exemptions from the Restricted Location Law (Penal Law 265.01-d(2))

The exemption list for restricted locations is narrower. Penal Law 265.01-d(2) states that the restricted-location offense does not apply to:

• Police officers as defined in Criminal Procedure Law 1.20.
• Peace officers as defined in Criminal Procedure Law 2.10.
• Qualified law enforcement officers under 18 U.S.C. 926B and qualified retired law enforcement officers under 18 U.S.C. 926C (LEOSA).
• Security guards defined by and registered under article 7-A of the General Business Law who have been granted a special armed registration card, while at the location of their employment and during their work hours.
• Active-duty military personnel.
• Persons licensed under paragraph (c), (d), or (e) of Penal Law 400.00(2) while in the course of their official duties.
• Persons lawfully taking wildlife under a hunting permit or license, or as authorized under Environmental Conservation Law 11-0707 and 11-0709.
• Persons employed in the revenue control and security departments of the MTA, the New York City Transit Authority, or an affiliate or subsidiary, authorized to carry as part of their employment, while acting within the scope of their duties.

Note that ordinary licensed carriers, including holders of a Penal Law 400.00 carry license, are not on either exemption list. A license to carry does not override the sensitive-location prohibitions. The restricted-location default is separately enjoined as applied to private property open to the public, so a licensee there does not need to fit an exemption, but that injunction does no work anywhere else. See the litigation section.

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Federal Prohibited Places

Federal law bars firearms in certain places regardless of a New York license:

• Federal facilities: 18 U.S.C. 930 makes it a crime to knowingly possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a federal facility (other than a federal court facility), punishable by a fine, up to one year of imprisonment, or both. The penalty rises to up to five years if the person intends the weapon to be used in a crime. Federal court facilities are separately covered.
• Aircraft and the secured area of an airport: 49 U.S.C. 46505 makes it a federal crime to carry a concealed dangerous weapon accessible to you when on or attempting to board an aircraft, or to place a loaded firearm aboard an aircraft, punishable by a fine, up to ten years of imprisonment, or both. This is the controlling federal statute for the airport sterile area and for boarding aircraft. Checked, unloaded, properly cased and declared firearms in checked baggage follow TSA and airline rules and are handled separately.
• Other federal property: national parks generally follow the law of the state in which they sit, but federal buildings within them and other federal installations remain off-limits under federal law.

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Practical Notes

• A premises license (home or business) does not authorize carrying a handgun in public. A carry license under Penal Law 400.00 is required to carry outside the licensed premises, and even then the sensitive-location and restricted-location rules apply.
• The sensitive-location and restricted-location offenses cover all firearms, rifles, and shotguns, not just handguns.
• Carrying or possessing a handgun without the required license is itself a crime under New York law. See, for example, Penal Law 265.01-b (criminal possession of a firearm, a class E felony), 265.01 (criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a class A misdemeanor), and 265.03 (criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a class C felony). Penal Law 265.20 lists the statutory exemptions.
• School property carries two separate class E felonies: the sensitive-location offense under Penal Law 265.01-e(2)(m), and criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds under Penal Law 265.01-a, which also reaches a school bus and turns on the institution's written authorization.
• New York City has its own licensing and carry scheme under NYC Administrative Code 10-131 and Title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York, including the long-gun rule in 10-131(h). A state license is not valid in the city without a special permit from the police commissioner. Confirm City rules before carrying anywhere in the five boroughs.
• A place of worship is a sensitive location. The statute's only exception on its face is for persons responsible for security there. Do not read the CCIA litigation as opening places of worship to ordinary licensees.
• The one location rule a licensee gets relief from is Penal Law 265.01-d as applied to private property open to the public, under the permanent injunction in Christian v. James. Every 265.01-e sensitive location, including public parks, public transit and Times Square, is enforceable as written.

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Key Statute References

Sources: New York Penal Law 265.01-e, 265.01-d, 265.01-a, 265.20, 400.00 (NY Senate Open Legislation); New York City Administrative Code 10-131 (American Legal Publishing code library); New York State Police, gunsafety.ny.gov; 18 U.S.C. 930, 926B, 926C, 49 U.S.C. 46505 and 36 C.F.R. 2.4; Antonyuk v. James, 120 F.4th 941 (2d Cir. Oct. 24, 2024), cert. denied Apr. 7, 2025 (No. 24-795); Antonyuk v. Chiumento, 89 F.4th 271 (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 2023); Christian v. James, 176 F.4th 189 (2d Cir. May 18, 2026), affirming the permanent injunction entered Oct. 10, 2024 in No. 22-cv-00695 (W.D.N.Y.); Frey v. City of New York, No. 23-365-cv (2d Cir. Sept. 19, 2025); Wolford v. Lopez, No. 24-1046 (U.S. June 25, 2026).