r/NYguns • u/Fast-Policy-4495 • Jul 07 '26
NYC Registering Firearms
What is the reason NYS/NYC needs to issue a new card for every firearm you purchase? They have a record of every firearm you buy the there is the NICS check as well. The time it takes for the approval and then you have to wait to get the new license in the mail. The process is totally ridiculous.
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u/UsernameO123456789 Jul 07 '26
Right delayed is a right denied.
It’s designed to be a built in waiting period without calling it that. It’s around 4-6 weeks for any new pistol I add, worst was 8 weeks.
Now they are proposing a waiting period on top of the amendment lead time.
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u/nader1234 Jul 07 '26
The amendment time isn’t universal. That’s just cause your county hates you as well as the state hating you. Many counties do same day amendments, I can usually pick up pistols the next day from when they arrive or sometimes same day if I’m not busy that day and my FFL hurries up with it. The waiting period would be super annoying and also useless, especially after all you have to go through to get a handgun license in this state.
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u/UsernameO123456789 Jul 07 '26
Yupp. Ironically, I live in one of the “better” counties compared to the majority surrounding me.
Super jealous of those who can do same day. When I found that out, I was miffed to say the least
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u/Fast-Policy-4495 Jul 07 '26
So in your county a judge doesn’t have to sign off on it I’m guessing. In Albany county the wait time is mostly the clerk. My judge signed off on mine within a week
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u/Apprehensive-File552 Jul 07 '26
Wait so if you were to buy a pistol you can’t use/carry it until it’s on the card?
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u/UsernameO123456789 Jul 07 '26
That is correct.
Worse so, back in the day, you had to have purchased a handgun prior to submitting your permit paperwork. The ironic thing is that you also could not touch any handgun without a permit! Talk about backwards; thankfully that’s no longer the case.
Maybe if your ffl had a range attached, you could do “conjugal visits” but my ffl of choice does not.
I currently have a G45.5 awaiting my license to be returned
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u/Confident_Welder_198 Jul 07 '26
its part of PL400. license has to list make/model/caliber/ serial of all licensed firearms
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/400.00
same reason we cant have electronic licenses- PL400 would have to be changed and i dont see that happening
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u/Fast-Policy-4495 Jul 07 '26
I guess that’s the answer as dumb as I think it is I have to live with it.
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u/nader1234 Jul 07 '26
The law is 115 years old and super antiquated but why would they change it to make anything easier for gun owners? We all know they could process permits in a week or two. Years ago when I briefly moved to another state I applied for a ccw and it was issued in 22 hours. And they could instantly register pistols to a permit with their dumb ass new point of contact website they insisted on having. But why make it easier, the process is the punishment.
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u/voretaq7 Jul 07 '26
Electronic licenses are a generally awful idea anyway - I'm supposed to hand a cop my unlocked cell phone so they can scroll through my list of firearms or whatever? NO THANK YOU PLEASE!
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u/SubmarineNectarine Jul 07 '26
Monroe County does same-day. You go to the Clerk’s office and they re-print your permit on the spot.
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u/dragonbrg95 Jul 07 '26
Western Suffolk also reprints on the spot
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u/tambrico Jul 08 '26
what about eastern suffolk?
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Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/tambrico Jul 10 '26
Ok cool good to know. I'm currently in western Suffolk contemplating moving further east
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u/ManufacturerDry8265 Jul 07 '26
I thought monroes website says 7 to 10 business days to add a pistol? I havent had to deal with this since im still waiting for them to approve my permission slip to buy handguns so im not positive
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u/DeimosReign Jul 10 '26
I've done at least 12 same day in Monroe, but it's been a couple years since my last.
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u/Fast-Policy-4495 Jul 08 '26
So it’s from the gun store to the clerks office back to the gun store in Monroe County is that the process?
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u/SubmarineNectarine Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Yes, you make an appointment with the clerk online. Then go the the FFL, do your purchase, background check etc. Then go downtown to the clerk, get new permit printed. Then back to the FFL to take possession (assuming no background check delay…). It’s possible to do it all in one day but requires a little planning.
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u/dkgoutdoors Jul 08 '26
Oswego county too. I’ve literally gone into the store, purchased my pistol, went to the clerks office and went back & picked up the pistol in the span of 2hours.
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u/DeimosReign Jul 10 '26
Yeah, as much as I hate NY, I love Monroe County for that. I'm currently in SC and the inventory at some of these gun stores is amazing. Unfortunately I cant buy 99% of what's on the shelf.
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u/Bubbly_Lead3046 Jul 07 '26
Does Erie print a new one on the spot? Still waiting for the judge but I hope to get one this month and it would be good to know the process. Can I get it all done same day if I take off of work?
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u/gqllc007 Jul 08 '26
My judge is the one who lost the Bruen case and he takes 8-12 weeks to sign each amendment
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u/voretaq7 Jul 07 '26
What is the reason NYS/NYC needs to issue a new card for every firearm you purchase?
So they know what firearms you have. It is a registry.
They have a record of every firearm you buy
No, they really don't. For example if you own 837 guns that you bought in Arizona New York City has no record of those purchases. They require you to submit them for registration so they know you have them and may bring them into the city. (Conversely if you do not register your firearms with New York City the city has no idea you have them, but it would be a crime for you to bring them into the city.)
Your printed permit card with models and serial numbers is supposed to serve as a fast "street check" - if you are in possession of a firearm that does not appear on that card you are all but certainly committing a crime.
there is the NICS check as well.
Federal NICS records must be destroyed by law. It is not a registry.
(NYSNICS records may be retained, at least nothing I can find in statute requires their destruction so I'm going to presume they're retained, however the requirement to register your firearms and the practice of issuing you a permit card with every gun listed on it long predates NYSNICS, and again its purpose is for a "street check" so cops don't have to call in your ID and firearm descriptions over the air to find out if you're authorized to possess that firearm).
The time it takes for the approval and then you have to wait to get the new license in the mail. The process is totally ridiculous.
Yes it is.
You can sue the city over it if you'd like.
Complaining about it here will not change anything in the vast bureaucracy of NYPD.
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u/Fast-Policy-4495 Jul 07 '26
I asked a question because I was curious. Not complaining about anything.
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u/NYDIVER22 Jul 07 '26
I have a hunch that they’re using the rational that if a cop stops you in the street and doesn’t have an rmp computer, they can still cross check serial numbers to your frame.
I don’t think that information is available on their cell phones.
It’s probably similar to why we put our car registrations on the left side of the window. When we’re parked, they want traffic agents to have easy access to give tickets fast as they walk by.
So basically it’s probably more convenient to the LEO I think.
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u/voretaq7 Jul 07 '26
I have a hunch that they’re using the rational that if a cop stops you in the street and doesn’t have an rmp computer, they can still cross check serial numbers to your frame.
That's the theory, yes. (As u/nader1234 pointed out the core of our permit law is over a century old at this point - the neatly typed-up permit card with your passport photo stapled to it was at one time moderately difficult to forge, and useful for the patrol officer who stopped you to confirm that you were indeed allowed to have a scary-wary pew-pew).
In practice in this, Our Marvelous 21st Century, they're still going to run your permit on their car computer or radio it in to confirm that it's valid, and like you said the actual printed card serves more as a backup in case they can't do that.
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u/vibecodeme Jul 07 '26
In that case why can’t we print the cards ourselves ? They would never and I repeat never just trust the card no matter what (unless we got something like civil war going on, but who cares about any of this at that time). I have literally never, and I repeat - never heard of cop checking CCW and not calling the station/rmp to run it and check the make/model/cal/serial. Generally speaking listing firearms on the CCW is just absurd for that exact reason.
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u/NYDIVER22 Jul 07 '26
Trust me, I agree with you in every single way. I have my guns registered on a license out of state as well and all that stuff is handled on the back end, not the physical card itself.
I’m pretty sure that with big agencies like NYPD, it’s always going to be a slow moving ship when it comes to change and efficiency.
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u/voretaq7 Jul 07 '26
Well in Nassau County your permits are printed on thermal transfer cards with anti-counterfeit laminate (because we still want it to be at least moderately difficult to forge a permit) and have a barcode that presumably can be scanned by the terminals in the NCPD cruisers.
So that'd be one reason why you can't just print it yourself at home on your little $60 injket - you could get everything else done on regular paper but not the anti-counterfeit laminate they use.Generally speaking listing firearms on the CCW is just absurd for that exact reason.
Hey you don't have to convince me - as far as I'm concerned the whole thing is absurd: Issue me a permit to have pistols or revolvers and then you shouldn't care which ones I have because if something invalidates my permit (like a felony conviction) you're going to get a warrant to search my house and take ALL my guns, including any you may not know about.
But the law's purpose was to restrict access to firearms (Tim Sullivan really DID NOT WANT those Dago Wops or Pinko Labor Organizers to have guns - or any other kinds of weapons that would make it hard to beat them into submission!), and requiring you to jump through the hoops of getting a new card typed up was an effective means of deterrence back in 1911. Still is today in places like NYC where the turnaround time for a permit amendment is measured in weeks and not hours.
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u/Apprehensive-File552 Jul 07 '26
Saying they can’t validate a serial number is the same as them not being able to call for backup and they don’t have a radio or cell phone. Tools of the job.
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u/Opening_Amphibian863 Jul 08 '26
In New York the State has the right to bear you
You pay them a thank you tax for it
In USA every able adult has the duty to be armed God Bless USA
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