Assuming you complete the marathon to obtain some kind of handgun license in the Big Apple, the excruciation continues...
Buying a Gun in NYC You can purchase a firearm from any FFL, but purchases made from out of state must be transferred to an FFL in NYC. If you buy a new gun, IT MUST BE NY COMPLIANT. Used guns should be marked by the shipper as such. Make sure you fill out the BATFE form, get a receipt and have the FFL fill out the Purchase Authorization form.
Every 90 days you can buy ONE handgun, pistol or revolver in the City of New York. You will need to fill out the Purchase Authorization Request Form electronically and submit it online to NYPD so that they can provide you with a “purchase Authorization” that you can use to take possession of a new handgun at the time of purchase. The most important thing to remember when filling out the form is that the caliber you write down MUST be the caliber of the handgun you purchase. You can buy a different make and model as long as the caliber on the Purchase Authorization Request Form is the same. However, it is always best to buy the handgun make and model you put down on the Purchase Authorization Request Form if at all possible.
Here are the steps to getting a Purchase Authorization: 1. Submit your online request for purchase authorization. Currently takes around 30-60 days. 2. PA request approval is either emailed or snail mailed, and recipient has 30 days from the date it was MAILED (not received) to pick up the authorization. 3. Once you receive it, you have to go down to 1 Police Plaza to pick up the PA. M-Tr ONLY from 9am-12pm. 4. Once you pick up the PA, you have another 30 days to purchase the actual firearm. 5. Once purchased (even if it is on the date the PA expires) you have 72 hours (not calendar days, not business days, 72 hours – which might include weekends and holidays) to bring the firearm, locked, unloaded, down to 1PP to have it inspected. Inspections are done any business day (M-F, excluding holidays) from 12pm – 2pm. Bring bill of sale, etc etc etc. 6. You’re all done. Wait another 90 days, submit your next one, and while you wait … Go shoot.
Gun Inspection Bring the receipt (2 copies – you keep the original they get the other), Purchase Authorization, and your firearm (unloaded, trigger locked, no mag in gun, no ammo on your person, in a locked case) to back to 1 Police Plaza, Monday – Thursday between the hours of 12 noon – 3pm (if you’re quick, you can pick up your PA in the morning, buy a gun, and get back for inspection the same day). Let the checkpoint know you are carrying a firearm (and let them know it’s properly secured). Then go for your gun inspection. Your gun will be inspected, and the serial # recorded. They will then put the gun’s make, model, caliber and serial # on the gun license and hand it to you. Make sure you verify that the information, especially the serial #, is correct! I’d say every other time I have put a new gun on my license, there has been some kind of typo. If your gun’s serial # doesn’t match your license, you can be arrested, even if it was a typo or mistake on their part. You can now purchase ammunition only for the caliber(s) listed on your license.
Be sure to request the Hunting Authorization card when you pick up your license if you ever want to leave the 5 boroughs into NY State on a Premises License. Also, read the
booklet that NYPD gives you at the time of your Pistol Permit issuance. Know the laws! Ignorance of the law will not help you if you get into trouble!
The "deli lines" at some MA shops don't look so bad by comparison.
