New York Firearms License Eligibility and Mental Health Reporting

New York Penal Law Section 400.00 contains the mental-health criteria used to determine eligibility for a firearms license. Mental Hygiene Law Section 9.46 establishes a separate reporting process for certain mental health professionals. Penal Law Section 400.01 does not create these rules. It concerns licenses for retired sworn members of the Division of State Police.^[1]

Disqualifying Mental Health Events

A person is ineligible for a firearms license if they have been:

• Involuntarily committed to a facility under the jurisdiction of the Office of Mental Health pursuant to Article 9 or 15 of the Mental Hygiene Law
• Committed pursuant to criminal proceedings under Article 730 or Section 330.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law (incompetent to stand trial or not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect)
• Committed under correction or family court proceedings pursuant to Section 402 or 508 of the Correction Law, or Sections 322.2 or 353.4 of the Family Court Act
• Civilly confined in a secure treatment facility pursuant to Article 10 of the Mental Hygiene Law (sex offender civil management)
• The subject of a report made pursuant to Section 9.46 of the Mental Hygiene Law^[2]

SAFE Act Mental Health Reporting (MHL 9.46)

Mental Hygiene Law 9.46 requires a covered mental health professional who is currently treating a person to report when, using reasonable professional judgment, the professional determines that the person is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others. The report goes to the director of community services or a designee. If that official agrees, limited identifying information is sent to the Division of Criminal Justice Services. When DCJS determines that the reported person holds a firearms license, Penal Law 400.00 requires the licensing official to issue an order suspending or revoking the license.^[3]

Investigation of Mental Health Records

Before a license is issued or renewed, the duly constituted police authorities for the locality investigate the statements in the application and report the results to the licensing officer. For that investigation, records held by the appropriate office of the Department of Mental Hygiene concerning the applicant's previous or present mental illness are available to the investigating police officer.^[1]

Confidentiality and Due Process

Information sent to DCJS under MHL 9.46 is limited to names and other non-clinical identifying information and may be used only for the firearms-eligibility purposes specified in the statute. A mental health professional's decision to report or not report is protected from civil or criminal liability when it is made reasonably and in good faith. Separate statutory and administrative procedures govern challenges to disqualifying records and requests for relief.^[3]

Practical Impact

These provisions create a sequence of distinct decisions: a treating professional applies the MHL 9.46 reporting standard, the director of community services reviews the report, DCJS checks firearms-license records, and the licensing official applies the suspension or revocation procedure required by Penal Law 400.00. The existence of a mental-health diagnosis by itself is not the reporting standard stated in MHL 9.46.

Controlled Substance Disqualifier and Hemani

New York licensing law and federal law both require attention to unlawful controlled-substance use and addiction. The ATF revised the federal regulatory definitions in January 2026. On June 18, 2026, the Supreme Court held that 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) was unconstitutional as applied to the facts in United States v. Hemani.^[7]

The holding is not a categorical ruling that Section 922(g)(3) can never be enforced. It does not decide every application involving current intoxication, addiction, dangerousness, or a different factual record. Applicants should answer licensing and federal transaction forms truthfully and obtain qualified advice for fact-specific questions.