Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

New York City Demonstrates the Danger to Freedom and Safety of Firearm Licensing Laws

Monday, January 4, 2021

New York City Demonstrates the Danger to Freedom and Safety of Firearm Licensing Laws

Leave it to New York City to once again remind us why we cannot trust anti-gun public officials to be the gatekeepers for our preexisting right – not state-granted privilege – to keep and bear arms.  

At first blush, firearm licensing laws may seem to some like a reasonable safeguard to ensure new gun owners have a baseline of vetting and familiarization before they take home their first firearm.

This would assume, however, an ideal world where the system was administered fairly, affordably, efficiently, and in good faith.

That ideal world does not exist. The reality is that most of the places where licensing is required for firearm possession use the system first and foremost to actively discourage people from owning guns at all with burdensome bureaucracy, fees, and waiting periods.

But for places like New York City, even this inherent chilling effect is not enough. According to a recent article in the New York Post, the New York Police Department (NYPD) License Division appears to be simply letting new firearm permit applications languish with little or no action and little or no way for the applicants to know where they stand in the process. And this is occurring during a period of soaring violent crime in the city and a correspondingly high volume of permit applications.

Before discussing the Post’s findings, it’s worth revisiting the huge hurdles every would-be gun owner faces in lawfully obtaining a firearm in the Big Apple.

First of all, the applicant must apply online. Not only does this obviously require a computer and Internet connection, it requires equipment like scanners, copiers, and printers (for supporting documentation) that are rare even in many computer-owning households.

The documentation required for an application may be intrusive and voluminous, depending on the person’s circumstances. Some supporting documents must additionally be notarized.

Applicants will be expected to provide photographs, birth certificate, any military discharge papers, proof of city residence, and documents related to any arrests or convictions (including for cases that were dismissed, nullified, or sealed). Every applicant must also be prepared to present an original Social Security card during an in-person appearance; bank deposit slips and tax returns may also be required. The application additionally mandates extensive disclosures about medical and mental health treatment, as well as full contact information for any and all providers.

Every handgun application requires a $340 fee ($140 for a rifle or shotgun), in addition to $88.25 for the mandatory fingerprint cards that must accompany the application.  Cash and checks are not accepted, only credit card payments or money orders (which of course require additional fees and special trips). Additional fees are required upon renewal.

Once the application and all required forms are uploaded, the License Division will schedule a mandatory interview for all handgun applicants, with long gun applicants having to appear at the Division’s discretion. Normal processing time is at least six months and often considerably longer.

The process is so complicated that it’s not uncommon for applicants to hire lawyers or other professionals to help them negotiate all the bureaucracy. The regime has also led to corruption scandals, with “facilitators” bribing licensing officials to grant or expedite the processing of permits. 

All this is just the normal state of affairs.

Lately, the NYPD License Division has further restricted the availability of the in-person portions of the process, ostensibly because of precautions relating to the novel coronavirus.

And earlier last year, Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 related emergency orders put “non-essential” businesses on “pause,” with only the threat of litigation allowing gun shops to avoid being shuttered entirely. 

It’s a tribute to Americans’ embrace of the Second Amendment (and the corresponding diminution of that right by New York courts) that every year thousands of New Yorkers tackle this arduous process simply to possess a firearm lawfully within the home.

But last year interest in gun ownership spiked in New York City. From March 22 to late Dec. of 2020, according to the Post, applications for first-time firearm permits surged to 8,088, more than a three-fold increase over the 2,562 applications submitted during the same period in 2019.

Coinciding with the increase, the Post reports, was a 98% increase in shootings and a 39% increase in murders within New York City.

Nevertheless, the Post additionally reports that application approvals dropped from 70% in 2019 to less than 14% during the same period of 2020.

The decrease in approvals apparently does not reflect outright denials of prohibited applicants but simply inaction on the processing of applications across the board.

According to one city gun dealer quoted by the Post, “They just stopped doing the investigations and the processing.” Another dealer told the Post, “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

A source within the NYPD said the License Division did not have adequate staffing to process the applications, a factor the source blamed in part on official antipathy toward New Yorkers exercising their Second Amendment rights. “The politicians are generally against giving licenses, to begin with, so it’s not a priority,” the person said.

In a follow-up article, an NYPD source noted that the same civil unrest that had helped fuel the demand for lawfully-owned guns ironically had caused the department to shift officers away from the processing of permits and to other tasks during the protests and riots that marred the city in 2020.  ”Many cops in police headquarters, including the License Division, were put in uniform to police those protests,” the source said.

Meanwhile, a city resident who had applied for a permit in July 2020 told the Post in December that emails he’d sent since then to check on its status had simply “bounce[d] back” with no answer.

Whatever the true cause[s] of the delay, the takeaway is inescapable: New York City’s firearm licensing laws have blocked city residents from obtaining guns precisely when more and more residents are deciding they want one. And a right to protection that evaporates when most needed is no right at all.

TRENDING NOW
Federal Legislation Introduced to Ban “Gas Operated Semiautomatic” Firearms

Friday, December 1, 2023

Federal Legislation Introduced to Ban “Gas Operated Semiautomatic” Firearms

Joe Biden has long insisted he would ban what he calls “assault weapons” and has enlisted a motley succession of extreme anti-gun legislators to aid in that effort. Now, Senators Angus King (IND-ME) and Martin ...

NBC Poll: Majority of Voter Households Own Firearms

News  

Monday, December 4, 2023

NBC Poll: Majority of Voter Households Own Firearms

The last few weeks haven’t been kind to gun grabbers - and we’re not just talking about President Joe Biden’s woeful poll numbers. Black Friday is typically the largest day of the year for gun sales. This year, gun buyers set ...

Crime in “America’s largest outdoor shooting range” – Lies, damned lies, and statistics

News  

Monday, December 4, 2023

Crime in “America’s largest outdoor shooting range” – Lies, damned lies, and statistics

In a press conference late last month, Chicago’s progressive new mayor, Brandon Johnson, shifted the blame for the crime epidemic and migrant crisis plaguing his city on his predecessor, Lori Lightfoot (another Democrat), and on “right-wing extremism.”

Following Terrorist Attack, Israel Relaxes Gun Laws and Arms Civilians

News  

Monday, October 16, 2023

Following Terrorist Attack, Israel Relaxes Gun Laws and Arms Civilians

Following an unprecedented terrorist attack on civilians that indiscriminately targeted even the elderly, women, and children, Israel has loosened its gun laws and is distributing firearms to civilians. As of press time, the number of victims killed in ...

Virginia: Omnibus Gun Control Bills Filed Ahead of the 2024 Legislative Session

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Virginia: Omnibus Gun Control Bills Filed Ahead of the 2024 Legislative Session

In Virginia, the pre-filing of legislation has begun for the 2024 session and anti-gun legislators are wasting no time in aggressively laying out their agenda. 

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Case.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License Requirement in NRA-Backed Case.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals ruled that Maryland’s Handgun Qualification License (“HQL”) requirement is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. 

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

News  

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Canadians on Canada’s Gun Control Measures: Expensive, Ineffective, Political Posturing

More than three years have passed since Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban and mandatory confiscation (“buyback”) of what he called “military grade assault weapons,” which was followed by a national handgun “freeze” ...

Seventh Circuit Strains to Uphold Illinois’ Gun and Magazine Ban

News  

Monday, November 13, 2023

Seventh Circuit Strains to Uphold Illinois’ Gun and Magazine Ban

At this point, gun owners and other productive Americans don’t anticipate much good news out of Chicago. On November 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit lived up to those expectations when it upheld Illinois’ ...

Massachusetts: Anti-Gun Bill Passes House

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Massachusetts: Anti-Gun Bill Passes House

This evening, anti-gun politicians in the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed H. 4135, “an act modernizing firearm laws” by a vote of 120-38. This bill, formerly known as HD 4420 and HD 4607, now heads ...

Federal Judge in Colorado Insists There is No Second Amendment Right to Buy a Gun

News  

Monday, November 20, 2023

Federal Judge in Colorado Insists There is No Second Amendment Right to Buy a Gun

Honest people can disagree with the Founders’ decision to enshrine the Second Amendment within the Bill of Rights. They cannot, however, pretend that decision never happened. For much of the 20th Century, however, gun control activists ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.