PL 400.00:
New York Firearm Licensing

New York Penal Law Section 400.00 is the central state licensing statute for pistols and revolvers, semiautomatic-rifle purchases or transfers, gunsmiths, and firearm dealers. It governs eligibility, license categories, investigation, processing, renewal, and recertification.^[1]

Eligibility

A licensing officer may issue or renew a license only after investigating the application and finding that its statements are true and the statutory eligibility requirements are met. Those requirements include age, good moral character as defined by the statute, criminal-history and warrant restrictions, federal immigration and controlled-substance restrictions, specified mental-health criteria, protective-order and guardianship criteria, and additional requirements for the carry-concealed category.^[1]

The statutory text still lists three years of social-media account information for carry-concealed applicants. The Second Circuit's October 24, 2024 post-Rahimi opinion upheld an injunction against enforcement of that disclosure requirement. The court otherwise treated the challenged licensing framework provision by provision rather than invalidating Section 400.00 as a whole.^[4]

License Categories

Section 400.00 authorizes licenses for gunsmiths and firearm dealers, licenses to purchase or take possession of semiautomatic rifles, and several pistol or revolver categories. The pistol and revolver categories include possession in a dwelling, possession at a merchant's or storekeeper's place of business, specified employment-related carry, carry by specified judges, carry by specified correctional employees, general concealed carry subject to state and federal restrictions, and antique-pistol possession and carry.^[1]

A target or hunting restriction sometimes placed on a locally issued license is not a separate license category listed in subdivision 2. Local administrative restrictions and the statutory license category should not be treated as the same thing.

Application and Processing

An applicant generally applies to the licensing officer where the applicant resides, is principally employed, or has a principal place of business as a merchant or storekeeper. The statute requires a local investigation, fingerprints, and review of relevant records. A licensing officer must ordinarily act within six months after presentment unless the applicant receives written notice of a good-cause delay specific to that applicant.^[1]

Carry-Concealed Training

Before issuance or renewal of the general carry-concealed license under subdivision 2(f), subdivision 19 requires at least sixteen hours of approved in-person curriculum and at least two hours of live-fire training. The applicant must score at least eighty percent on the written test and satisfy the required live-fire proficiency standard. This eighteen-hour requirement is tied to the carry-concealed category, not every license listed in Section 400.00.^[2]

Renewal and Recertification

Carry-concealed licenses covered by the State Police recertification system recertify every three years. Premises-restricted licenses covered by that system continue to recertify every five years. Licensees in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester do not recertify with the State Police and instead follow the applicable local renewal or recertification process. The statute separately sets expiration and renewal rules by license type and jurisdiction.^[3][1]

Carry Locations Are Separate

A license does not override separate state and federal location restrictions or an owner's lawful prohibition. On May 18, 2026, the Second Circuit affirmed a permanent injunction against enforcing New York's express-consent rule as applied to private property open to the public. On June 25, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hawaii's materially similar default rule. Those decisions concern the default for property open to the public, not every licensing or location rule.^[5][6]