STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2166
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MANKTELOW, ANGELINO, BRABENEC, DeSTEFANO, HAWLEY,
SMULLEN, WALSH, MILLER -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to a license to carry or
possess a firearm
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 265.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new
2 subdivision 10-a to read as follows:
3 10-a. "Filing officer" means the county clerk of each county, unless
4 otherwise specified through resolution by the county's legislative body.
5 § 2. Subdivisions 9, 10, 13 and 14 of section 400.00 of the penal law,
6 subdivision 9 as amended by chapter 212 of the laws of 2022, subdivision
7 10 as amended by chapter 371 of the laws of 2022, and subdivision 14 as
8 amended by chapter 429 of the laws of 2023 are amended to read as
9 follows:
10 9. License: amendment. Elsewhere than in the city of New York, a
11 person licensed to carry or possess a pistol or revolver or to purchase
12 or take possession of a semiautomatic rifle may apply at any time to
13 [his or her licensing] the filing officer for amendment of [his or her]
14 such officer's license to include one or more such weapons or to cancel
15 weapons held under license. [If granted, a] A record of the amendment
16 describing the weapons involved shall be filed by the [licensing] filing
17 officer in the executive department, division of state police, Albany.
18 The superintendent of state police may authorize that such amendment be
19 completed and transmitted to the state police in electronic form.
20 Notification of any change of residence shall be made in writing by any
21 licensee within ten days after such change occurs, and a record of such
22 change shall be inscribed by such licensee on the reverse side of [his
23 or her] such licensee's license. Elsewhere than in the city of New York,
24 and in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, such notification shall be
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03648-01-5
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1 made to the executive department, division of state police, Albany, and
2 in the city of New York to the police commissioner of that city, and in
3 the county of Nassau to the police commissioner of that county, and in
4 the county of Suffolk to the [licensing] filing officer of that county,
5 who shall, within ten days after such notification shall be received by
6 [him or her] them, give notice in writing of such change to the execu-
7 tive department, division of state police, at Albany.
8 10. License: expiration, certification and renewal. (a) Any license
9 for gunsmith or dealer in firearms and, in the city of New York, any
10 license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time
11 pursuant to this section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen
12 hundred sixty-three and not limited to expire on an earlier date fixed
13 in the license, shall, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d) of
14 this subdivision, expire not more than three years after the date of
15 issuance. In the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, any
16 license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time
17 pursuant to this section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen
18 hundred sixty-three and not limited to expire on an earlier date fixed
19 in the license, shall expire not more than five years after the date of
20 issuance; however, in the county of Westchester, any such license shall
21 be certified prior to the first day of April, two thousand, in accord-
22 ance with a schedule to be contained in regulations promulgated by the
23 commissioner of the division of criminal justice services, and every
24 such license shall, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d) of
25 this subdivision, be recertified every five years thereafter. For
26 purposes of this section certification shall mean that the licensee
27 shall provide to the [licensing] filing officer the following informa-
28 tion only: current name, date of birth, current address, and the make,
29 model, caliber and serial number of all firearms currently possessed.
30 Such certification information shall be filed by the [licensing] filing
31 officer in the same manner as an amendment. Elsewhere than in the city
32 of New York and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, any
33 license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time
34 pursuant to this section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen
35 hundred sixty-three and not previously revoked or cancelled, shall be in
36 force and effect until revoked as herein provided. Any license not
37 previously cancelled or revoked shall remain in full force and effect
38 for thirty days beyond the stated expiration date on such license. Any
39 application to renew a license that has not previously expired, been
40 revoked or cancelled shall thereby extend the term of the license until
41 disposition of the application by the [licensing] filing officer. In the
42 case of a license for gunsmith or dealer in firearms, in counties having
43 a population of less than two hundred thousand inhabitants, photographs
44 and fingerprints shall be submitted on original applications and upon
45 renewal thereafter at three year intervals. Upon satisfactory proof that
46 a currently valid original license has been despoiled, lost or otherwise
47 removed from the possession of the licensee and upon application
48 containing an additional photograph of the licensee, the [licensing]
49 filing officer shall issue a duplicate license.
50 (b) All licensees shall be recertified to the division of state police
51 every five years thereafter, except as otherwise provided in paragraph
52 (d) of this subdivision. Any license issued before the effective date of
53 the chapter of the laws of two thousand thirteen which added this para-
54 graph shall be recertified by the licensee on or before January thirty-
55 first, two thousand eighteen, and not less than one year prior to such
56 date, the state police shall send a notice to all license holders who
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1 have not recertified by such time. Such recertification shall be in a
2 form as approved by the superintendent of state police, which shall
3 request the license holder's name, date of birth, gender, race, residen-
4 tial address, social security number, firearms possessed by such license
5 holder, email address at the option of the license holder and an affir-
6 mation that such license holder is not prohibited from possessing
7 firearms. The form may be in an electronic form if so designated by the
8 superintendent of state police. Failure to recertify shall act as a
9 revocation of such license. If the New York state police discover as a
10 result of the recertification process that a licensee failed to provide
11 a change of address, the New York state police shall not require the
12 [licensing] filing officer to revoke such license.
13 (c) A license to purchase or take possession of a semiautomatic rifle
14 as defined in subdivision two of this section shall be recertified to
15 the applicable [licensing] filing officer every five years following the
16 issuance of such license. Failure to renew such a license shall be a
17 violation punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars,
18 and such failure to renew shall be considered by the [licensing] filing
19 officer when reviewing future license applications by the license holder
20 pursuant to this chapter.
21 (d) Licenses issued under paragraph (f) of subdivision two of this
22 section shall be recertified or renewed in the same form and manner as
23 otherwise required by this subdivision, provided however, that such
24 licenses shall be recertified or renewed every three years following the
25 issuance of such license. For licenses issued prior to the effective
26 date of this paragraph that were issued more than three years prior to
27 such date, or will expire in less than one year from such date shall be
28 recertified or renewed within one year of such date.
29 13. Expenses. The expense of providing a [licensing] filing officer
30 with blank applications, licenses and record books for carrying out the
31 provisions of this section shall be a charge against the county, and in
32 the city of New York against the city.
33 14. Fees. In the city of New York and the counties of Nassau and West-
34 chester, the annual license fee shall be twenty-five dollars for
35 gunsmiths and fifty dollars for dealers in firearms. In such city, the
36 city council and in the counties of Nassau and Westchester the legisla-
37 tive body of such county shall fix the fee to be charged for a license
38 to carry or possess a pistol or revolver or to purchase or take
39 possession of a semiautomatic rifle and provide for the disposition of
40 such fees. Elsewhere in the state, the [licensing] filing officer shall
41 collect and pay into the county treasury the following fees: for each
42 license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver or to purchase or take
43 possession of a semiautomatic rifle, not less than three dollars nor
44 more than ten dollars as may be determined by the legislative body of
45 the county; for each amendment thereto, three dollars, and five dollars
46 in the county of Suffolk; and for each license issued to a gunsmith or
47 dealer in firearms, ten dollars. The fee for a duplicate license shall
48 be five dollars. The fee for processing a license transfer between coun-
49 ties shall be five dollars. The fee for processing a license or renewal
50 thereof for a qualified retired police officer as defined under subdivi-
51 sion thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, or a
52 qualified retired sheriff, undersheriff, or deputy sheriff of the city
53 of New York as defined under subdivision two of section 2.10 of the
54 criminal procedure law, or a qualified retired bridge and tunnel offi-
55 cer, sergeant or lieutenant of the triborough bridge and tunnel authori-
56 ty as defined under subdivision twenty of section 2.10 of the criminal
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1 procedure law, or a qualified retired uniformed court officer in the
2 unified court system, or a qualified retired court clerk in the unified
3 court system in the first and second judicial departments, as defined in
4 paragraphs a and b of subdivision twenty-one of section 2.10 of the
5 criminal procedure law or a retired correction officer as defined in
6 subdivision twenty-five of section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law
7 shall be waived in all counties throughout the state.
8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.