PL 265.01-b:
Criminal Possession of a Firearm

New York Penal Law Section 265.01-b defines criminal possession of a firearm through two separate statutory pathways. The first covers possession of any item that meets New York's definition of firearm. The second covers a person who lawfully possessed a qualifying firearm before the 2013 law took effect, was subject to the assault-weapon registration requirements in Section 400.00(16-a), and knowingly failed to register it.^[1]

Pathway One: Possession of a Firearm

Subdivision one states that a person is guilty when the person possesses any firearm. "Firearm" is a defined New York term that includes pistols and revolvers, specified short-barreled rifles and shotguns, weapons made from rifles or shotguns below the overall-length threshold, assault weapons, and the additional component-housing category in Section 265.00(3). Standard rifles and shotguns are not automatically firearms under this definition.^[1][2]

Licenses and Exemptions

The offense text does not list "absence of a license" as a separate phrase within subdivision one. Instead, Section 265.20 provides that Section 265.01-b does not apply to specified people and circumstances. That includes possession of a pistol or revolver by a person who holds the applicable license under Section 400.00 or 400.01. Other exemptions are detailed and conditional. A license is therefore legally important, but the complete analysis requires the statutory firearm definition, possession, and the applicable exemption rather than the slogan that lack of a license alone proves every element.^[3][4]

Pathway Two: Knowing Failure to Register

Subdivision two is separate. It applies when a person lawfully possessed a covered firearm before the 2013 law took effect, the weapon was subject to the registration requirements in Section 400.00(16-a), and the person knowingly failed to register it. Failure to register is not an element that Section 265.01-b adds to every subdivision-one prosecution.^[1][4]

Related Loaded-Firearm Offenses

Section 265.01-b does not require the separate loaded-firearm circumstances found in Section 265.03. Specified possession of a loaded firearm outside a person's home or place of business can implicate Section 265.03, a Class C felony, when its elements are met. The actual charge depends on the item, loaded status, location, license or exemption, and other facts.^[5]

Penalty

Criminal possession of a firearm under Section 265.01-b is a Class E felony. Penal Law Section 70.00 provides a maximum indeterminate term of four years for a Class E felony. The sentence in an individual case depends on the applicable sentencing provisions, record, and case facts.^[1][6]