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
Seattle’s Gun Tax: A Textbook Case on the Law of Inverse Consequences

News  

Monday, March 27, 2023

Seattle’s Gun Tax: A Textbook Case on the Law of Inverse Consequences

The law of inverse or unintended consequences refers to outcomes that are the reverse of the planned or expected results. As described in another context, “the law of unintended consequences could create a perverse effect contrary to ...

Florida: House Passes Constitutional Carry

Friday, March 24, 2023

Florida: House Passes Constitutional Carry

Today, the House voted 76-32 to pass House Bill 543, the constitutional carry bill.

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things… In San Francisco

News  

Monday, March 27, 2023

This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things… In San Francisco

Most Americans understand that our country has had a problem with a surge in crime over the last couple of years. In response, there has been a surge in gun purchases, and millions of law-abiding citizens ...

Updates to ATF Final Rule on Stabilizing Braces

News  

Monday, January 30, 2023

Updates to ATF Final Rule on Stabilizing Braces

On Monday, January 30, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) published the final Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached “Stabilizing Braces” rule for public inspection in the federal register.

Biden’s Executive Order Targeting Gun Ownership

News  

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Biden’s Executive Order Targeting Gun Ownership

On Tuesday, Joe Biden issued an executive order on gun control that could accurately be described as a mile wide and an inch deep.

Bloomberg and His Anti-Gun Apparatus Continue to Mislead Voters

News  

Monday, March 27, 2023

Bloomberg and His Anti-Gun Apparatus Continue to Mislead Voters

It’s no deep secret that anti-gun billionaire Mike Bloomberg will do anything, and at any cost, to promote his agenda of eradicating the Second Amendment. He launched an anti-gun organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, then ...

Colorado: Assault Weapon Ban Committee Hearing Scheduled!

Monday, March 27, 2023

Colorado: Assault Weapon Ban Committee Hearing Scheduled!

On March 29, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on House Bill 23-1230 (“HB 23-1230”), which bans the manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of what the drafters have defined as ...

Florida: Senate’s Constitutional Carry Passes Committee

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Florida: Senate’s Constitutional Carry Passes Committee

Today, the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee voted 11-6 to approve Senate Bill 150, constitutional carry, with an amendment aligning the language with the House’s version. It will now go to the full Senate for further consideration.

Florida: 2023 Session Convened, Senate Committee Hearing Constitutional Carry

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Florida: 2023 Session Convened, Senate Committee Hearing Constitutional Carry

Yesterday, March 7th, the Florida Legislature began the 2023 legislative session. Tomorrow, at 9:00AM, the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee will hear Senate Bill 150, the Senate’s constitutional carry bill.

North Carolina: Right-to-Carry Expansion and Permit-to-Purchase Repeal VETOED by Gov. Cooper

Friday, March 24, 2023

North Carolina: Right-to-Carry Expansion and Permit-to-Purchase Repeal VETOED by Gov. Cooper

Unfortunately, Governor Roy Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 41, a bill that recognizes law-abiding citizens’ right to self-defense while attending a church with a school attached and also repeals the redundant permit-to-purchase system.  This was expected from the anti-gun Governor ...

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.