Lawsuit Forces NYC To Allow Non-Residents to Apply for Carry Permits, GOA Heads Fight

August 9, 2024

Washington, D.C. — Yesterday, the New York City Police Department adopted an emergency rule which will allow non-residents to apply for concealed carry permits. This follows a lawsuit filed by Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) in February of this year on behalf of several non-residents (including Newsmax TV Host Carl Higbie) who have been wholly unable to secure any type of carry permit in New York, leaving them defenseless.

Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement: 

“This is great news for the untold millions of Americans who either work or visit New York every year. It’s critical that everyone can exercise their inherent right to self-defense, but until now, anti-gunners in New York denied most Americans that basic right.  

“We will continue to monitor local cases to ensure that NYPD indeed grants these permits to applicants in a timely and non-onerous manner. Otherwise, we will gladly file another lawsuit directed specifically at Mayor Adams and the NYPD.” 

Background: Under current New York law, only New York residents, or those who primarily work in New York, may apply for and obtain permits to carry concealed weapons, and the state does not grant any form of reciprocity for individuals who hold a similar permit from another state.

As a result, those who hold out of state driver’s licenses may drive in New York, but the exercising of one’s constitutional right to bear arms in New York State is wholly inaccessibly to the 94% of Americans who are not New York State residents. New York is one of a very few states where nonresidents are not allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.

GOA spokesmen are available for interviews.  Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

-GOA-