New York's red flag law is the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law. CPLR 6340(1) defines an extreme risk protection order as "a court-issued order...
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New York's red flag law is the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law. CPLR 6340(1) defines an extreme risk protection order as "a court-issued order of protection prohibiting a person from purchasing, possessing or attempting to purchase or possess a firearm, rifle or shotgun." It is codified in the Civil Practice Law and Rules, Article 63-A, sections 6340 through 6348, and has been in effect since 2019.
Article 63-A sits in the civil practice statute, and CPLR 6347 provides that no finding or determination made under the article "shall be interpreted as binding, or having collateral estoppel or similar effect, in any other action or proceeding." Separate Penal Law offenses can still attach. Under Penal Law 265.01(9), a person who possesses a major component of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun while prohibited from possessing a shotgun or rifle by "a temporary or final extreme risk protection order issued under article sixty-three-A of the civil practice law and rules" commits criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a class A misdemeanor. Penal Law 265.45 also requires a person who lives with someone they know or have reason to know is prohibited by a temporary or final ERPO to lock up or disable any rifle, shotgun, or firearm left out of their immediate possession or control.
An Extreme Risk Protection Order is a civil court order that can do the following:
There are two kinds of order. A temporary ERPO may be issued "ex parte or otherwise" on a finding of probable cause, and the written order must state the date and time it expires (CPLR 6342(1), 6342(4)(b)). A final ERPO is issued after a hearing and lasts up to one year, with a renewal path.
CPLR 6340(2) defines who may serve as a "petitioner." The categories are:
CPLR 6348 backs that last category up. A health care provider who files an ERPO application is authorized to disclose protected health information about the respondent as necessary for the full investigation and disposition of the application, limited to the minimum necessary, and the decision to disclose or not disclose, "when made reasonably and in good faith, shall not be the basis for any civil or criminal liability."
Mandatory filing for law enforcement. Under CPLR 6341, a law enforcement agency that employs a police officer, or a police officer or district attorney with jurisdiction in the county or city where the respondent resides, "shall file such application upon the receipt of credible information that an individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to themself or others," as defined in Mental Hygiene Law 9.39(a)(1) or (2), "unless such petitioner determines that there is no probable cause for such filing." The state's gun safety site attributes this duty to the 2022 changes.
The petitioner files a sworn application, with any supporting documentation, in the supreme court in the county in which the respondent resides (CPLR 6341). The chief administrator of the courts adopts the forms. The application form asks whether the petitioner knows or has reason to believe the respondent owns, possesses, or has access to a firearm, rifle, or shotgun and, if so, requests a description of them and their locations with as much specificity as possible. Service of the order and papers is arranged through the law enforcement agency serving the respondent's jurisdiction "at no cost to the petitioner," although a petitioner may voluntarily arrange service through a third party such as a licensed process server (CPLR 6342(6)(b)). For current forms and any court fees, use the Unified Court System's ERPO page at nycourts.gov.
An application for a temporary order "shall be determined in writing on the same day the application is filed" (CPLR 6342(1)). The standard is probable cause to believe the respondent is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to themselves or others, as defined in Mental Hygiene Law 9.39(a)(1) or (2). CPLR 6342(2) directs the court to consider any relevant factors, including a threat or act of violence or use of physical force directed at self, the petitioner, or another person; a violation or alleged violation of an order of protection; any pending charge or conviction for an offense involving the use of a weapon; the reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun; any history of a violation of an extreme risk protection order; evidence of recent or ongoing abuse of controlled substances or alcohol; evidence of recent acquisition of a firearm, rifle, shotgun, or other deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or ammunition for one; and evidence of recent acts of aggravated cruelty to animals. The court must also weigh how much time has passed since the act and the person's age at the time, and "recent" means within the six months prior to the date the petition was filed.
If a temporary order is granted, the officer serving it "shall request that the respondent immediately surrender to the officer all firearms, rifles and shotguns in the respondent's possession," and takes possession of what is surrendered, what is in plain sight, and what is discovered pursuant to a lawful search. The court may also direct a police officer to search for firearms consistent with the procedures of Criminal Procedure Law article 690 (CPLR 6342(8)). The court notifies the State Police, other law enforcement with jurisdiction, all applicable licensing officers, the statewide registry of orders of protection, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services, which reports the order to the FBI (CPLR 6342(7)).
The supreme court holds a hearing on whether to issue a final ERPO. Where a temporary order was issued, the hearing is held no sooner than three business days and no later than six business days after service of the temporary order, and the respondent "shall be entitled to more than six business days" if the respondent requests a reasonable period of additional time to prepare. Where no temporary order was issued, the hearing is held no later than ten business days after service of the application, and the respondent may request, and the court may grant, additional time (CPLR 6343(1)).
At the hearing, the petitioner "shall have the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that the respondent is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm" to themselves or others. That is a higher standard than the probable cause used for a temporary order. The court may consider the petition, evidence from either side, testimony, and the law enforcement background report prepared under CPLR 6342(9), and must also consider the CPLR 6342(2) factors. A final order extends for a period of up to one year, but where it was immediately preceded by a temporary order, the year is measured from the date the temporary order issued (CPLR 6343(3)(c)). If the petitioner has not met the standard of proof and firearms were surrendered or removed under a temporary order, the court's finding must include a written order directing their return, on a written finding that there is no legal impediment to the respondent's possession (CPLR 6343(5)(a)).
An ERPO is limited to firearms. CPLR 6340(1) defines it as an order "prohibiting a person from purchasing, possessing or attempting to purchase or possess a firearm, rifle or shotgun," and nothing in Article 63-A authorizes a court, under this article, to order the respondent to stay away from a home, job, or school, to have no contact with the petitioner, to follow custody orders, or to pay support.
For broader personal protection, a separate order of protection through the Family Court or a criminal court may be more appropriate. Article 63-A itself points at that track: CPLR 6342 and 6343 direct ERPO surrender "in the same manner as set forth in subdivision five of section 530.14 of the criminal procedure law," the statute that handles firearm surrender in protective order cases. For what an order of protection can and cannot include, use the Unified Court System's materials at nycourts.gov rather than relying on this page.
Article 63-A supplies the emergency mechanism in the statute itself: an application for a temporary order is decided in writing the same day it is filed, and it is filed in the supreme court in the county where the respondent resides (CPLR 6341, 6342(1)). The article does not set out after-hours procedures. Court hours, emergency coverage, and current forms are set by the New York State Unified Court System, so check its ERPO page at nycourts.gov or call the state's gun law hotline at 1-855-LAW-GUNS before relying on a particular filing window.
When the court arranges service of the temporary order, the application, and the associated papers, it "may redact the address and contact information of the petitioner from such application and papers where the court finds that disclosure of such address or other contact information would pose an unreasonable risk to the health or safety of the petitioner" (CPLR 6342(6)(a)). The same protection carries into service of a renewal application (CPLR 6345(2)) and into service of a granted final order (CPLR 6343(3)(a)). Where a health care provider petitions, any records or documents relating to diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, or clinical care that the court orders produced "shall be sealed by the court" (CPLR 6348(1)(b)). Whether any particular information gets redacted is a finding the court makes, so raise the safety concern with the court.
| Section | Subject |
|---|---|
| CPLR 6340 | Definitions, including who may be a petitioner |
| CPLR 6341 | Application for an ERPO; mandatory filing by law enforcement |
| CPLR 6342 | Issuance of a temporary ERPO (probable cause, same-day decision) |
| CPLR 6343 | Issuance of a final ERPO (hearing, clear and convincing evidence, up to one year) |
| CPLR 6344 | Surrender and removal of firearms, rifles and shotguns pursuant to an ERPO |
| CPLR 6345 | Request for renewal of an ERPO |
| CPLR 6346 | Expiration of an ERPO (sealing of records, return of firearms) |
| CPLR 6347 | Effect of findings and determinations in subsequent proceedings |
| CPLR 6348 | Protections for health care providers applying for an ERPO |
United States v. Rahimi (2024). In United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court considered 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8), a provision the Court has described as reaching "the possession of a firearm by a person against whom a domestic violence restraining order had been issued." As the Court recounted in Wolford v. Lopez in 2026, the Rahimi majority "was satisfied that the two analogues identified by the Federal Government, though not 'dead ringers' of 922(g)(8), were sufficiently similar to support the provision's constitutionality because the challenged regulation was 'consistent with the principles that underpin our regulatory tradition'" under New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022).
A New York ERPO is a state civil order under CPLR Article 63-A and is distinct from the federal 922(g)(8) prohibitor. The federal provision applies only to a court order issued after a hearing of which the person received actual notice and at which the person had an opportunity to participate, that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or a child of that partner or person, or from other conduct placing an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury, and that either includes a finding that the person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of that partner or child or expressly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against them. An ERPO is not built on those elements, so whether a given ERPO also triggers the federal prohibitor is a separate question.
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