Hearing on new regulations for non-New York State residents applying for gun licenses in New York City

Among Chinese gun owners, besides those who carry guns for safety reasons, there is also a group of gun collectors. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

[The Epoch Times, November 27, 2024] (Reported by Cai Rong, The Epoch Times, New York) The New York City Police Department held an online hearing on Monday (November 25) to discuss the "Amendment to the Law on Gun Licensing for Non-New York State Residents." This proposal aims to respond to the Supreme Court's requirements regarding gun licensing rules in the context of NYSRPA v. Bruen and the evolving Second Amendment legislation.

In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled in *NYSRPA v. Bruen* that New York State's requirement for applicants for concealed carry licenses to provide "justifiable reasons" was unconstitutional. In response, New York City revised its regulations, but the application process for permits for non-New York State residents remains unclear. This August, the mayor and police chief approved emergency rules to address public safety challenges and initiated formal rulemaking procedures.

The key points of the new regulations in the Amendment to the Firearms Licensing Amendment for Non-New York State Residents include: (1) Non-resident license application: a new procedure has been added to allow non-New York State residents to apply for firearms licenses in New York City; (2) Handgun registration regulations: the process for registering firearms licenses has been updated; (3) Concealed carry rules: the limit on the number of firearms that can be registered on each license has been revised, and it has been clarified that only one firearm can be carried.

At Monday's hearing, some citizens criticized New York City's rule of limiting gun purchases to one every 90 days as too strict, especially compared to other jurisdictions where most areas only limit it to once every 30 days and offer exemptions (such as Connecticut's rule for coaches and Virginia's rule for collectors). Furthermore, New York City's expansion of the restriction to all firearms, rather than just pistols, was also considered unreasonable.

Some argue that the 90-day purchase restriction hinders the right to legally possess weapons, contradicts the spirit of the judgments in *D.C. v. Heller* and *Brown*, and does not help deter crime; instead, it affects law-abiding citizens' right to self-defense. The focus should be on combating the illegal arms trade, rather than imposing more obstacles on legal purchases.

Regarding process efficiency, some opinions suggest that New York City's gun license application process is cumbersome and lacks transparency, requiring approval letters, background checks, and police department review, with the entire process potentially taking up to six months, making it less efficient than other states (such as Pennsylvania and Texas).

Some have suggested removing restrictions on gun purchases, simplifying procedures, shortening application processing time, and reducing application fees, while others argue that maintaining strict vetting is a necessary means to ensure public safety.

In an interview with our reporter, Cai Weiyi, president of the Chinatown Shooting Skills Research Association, supported the current strict review process and believed that simplifying the process might bring safety risks.

She said that among the Chinese community now, older immigrants mostly carry guns for business reasons. For example, jewelry business owners often have large amounts of cash on hand at the end of each day. They usually transport cash between shops or banks, or take it home, and need to protect themselves. Therefore, carrying guns is necessary for their business operations. However, starting this year, even those not driven by business needs are being granted permits. Gun regulations have become much more lenient than before.

John Lin, president of the New York Shooting Association, believes that the slow application process is due to insufficient police manpower. Compared with the approval time in Long Island, the application process in New York City is slow due to its large population, and the background checks for non-residents are more complicated.

The Flushing Shooting Association currently has about 500 to 600 members, including business people, students, civil servants, and working professionals. John Lin says that the demand for firearms is more diverse among these new immigrant groups. Most applicants want firearms for personal safety, especially those living in areas with high crime rates like the Bronx. Besides business people who need to carry firearms for protection, some members are simply gun collectors.

For gun enthusiasts, he believes New York City's 90-day gun purchase restriction is too strict and has limited effect on curbing crime, as criminals often use illegal firearms. He also mentioned that New York's magazine capacity restrictions (10 rounds for pistols and 5 rounds for rifles) affect the user experience for gun lovers, as they feel the design is like a "castrated version."

"For example, some rifles (such as semi-automatic rifles) may have fixed magazines that cannot be disassembled and must be locked, which greatly diminishes the experience for gun enthusiasts," he said. He added that in New York State, the automatic rifles available to the general public are almost all "modified" versions, and he believes that limiting magazine capacity is meaningless. "If someone really wants to commit a crime, no matter how many magazines are limited, it won't stop them, because they can simply go to another state to buy larger capacity magazines."

At the hearing, the New York City Police Department pledged to review all comments and discuss future improvements with relevant stakeholders.

Editor in charge: Zheng Hua