Relates to licenses to carry and possess firearms for police officers; authorizes police officers to apply for a firearms license that is valid throughout the state.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5734
SPONSOR: Barclay (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to licenses to carry and
possess firearms for police officers
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to allow police officers to provide a
certification or attestation of good standing from their agency or
department as a presumptive qualification for issuance of a carry and
possess firearms license.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The bill amends Section 400.00(4-a) of the Penal Law to allow police
officers an accelerated process to receive their firearms license issued
under section 400.00.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, police officers go through the same hurdles a citizen does to
get their firearms license. However, this process can be redundant for
officers, as they already go through a background check, psychological
test, and are already trusted with firearms of all types as part of
their profession. Therefore, this legislation provides police officers
with an accelerated process to receive their firearms license.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A4859 of 2023-24-Referred to Codes
A6418 of 2021-22-Referred to Codes
A5005 of 2019-20-Held for consideration In Codes
A3341 of 2017-18-Held for consideration in Codes
A9061 of 2016-Held for consideration in Codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5734
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY, HAWLEY, MORINELLO, REILLY, DeSTEFANO,
SIMPSON, GALLAHAN, LEMONDES, BLANKENBUSH, BRABENEC, DiPIETRO --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. K. BROWN, MANKTELOW -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to licenses to carry and
possess firearms for police officers
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4-b of section 400.00 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 371 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 4-b. Processing of license applications. (a) Applications for
5 licenses shall be accepted for processing by the licensing officer at
6 the time of presentment. Except upon written notice to the applicant
7 specifically stating the reasons for any delay, in each case the licens-
8 ing officer shall act upon any application for a license pursuant to
9 this section within six months of the date of presentment of such an
10 application to the appropriate authority. Such delay may only be for
11 good cause and with respect to the applicant. In acting upon an applica-
12 tion, the licensing officer shall either deny the application for
13 reasons specifically and concisely stated in writing or grant the appli-
14 cation and issue the license applied for. A police officer who submits
15 an application containing a certification or attestation from the law
16 enforcement agency or department from which they are employed which
17 states they are in good standing, shall be presumptive evidence as to
18 the fitness and qualification to carry and possess firearms. The licens-
19 ing authority with jurisdiction in the county or city having a popu-
20 lation of less than one million, shall issue a license to carry and
21 possess a pistol or revolver pursuant to this section within sixty days
22 of a police officer applicant's submission and such license shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02233-01-5
A. 5734 2
1 authorize the licensee to carry and possess firearms in every county and
2 city in this state.
3 (b) For the purposes of this section, "police officer" shall mean a
4 police officer, as defined in subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of
5 the criminal procedure law.
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
