It happened. I’m the owner of the elusive New York State Non-Resident Concealed Carry Permit. Still Unrestricted.

They said it couldn’t be done.

Well, what they really said is that it couldn’t be done easily. As a matter of fact, it was easier than I ever thought.

Here’s the back story.

I grew up in New York and received my concealed carry permit there in 2010. Some years later, I wised up and moved to Florida to continue the business. Let’s face it; it’s a lot easier to run a business in the firearms industry from Florida.

When I changed residency, I never surrendered my NY permit. During this time, one requirement from the SAFE Act was coming due. Permit holders needed to ‘re-certify’ their permit to continue to legally carry. I had missed the deadline for my permit, but I submitted everything anyway. I called the State Police (who handle the re-certification) as well as the county clerk in my county of issuance, just to make sure I was doing everything properly.

I was told that it wouldn’t be any problem to keep my permit as an out-of-state resident since I already had the permit, and also because I didn’t surrender the permit once I became a Florida resident.

Now that my re-certification has been processed, I will head to the county clerk during my trip to NY to file an amendment to have my address changed. Then, I’ll receive my new permit in the form of a card (the old permits were paper).

And in the meantime, my current permit –according to everyone I spoke with– is still valid and active, and I won’t have any problems carrying a firearm in the State of New York. No residency required.

Of course this isn’t something that will work for most people who don’t already have the permit, but the truth is that New York rarely issues non-resident permits. Moreover, my permit is unrestricted, which is a rarity in and of itself.

In conclusion, I’ll be sure to update everyone if I’m arrested at the airport when either arriving or departing New York. But for now, all signs point to everything being valid and legit.

If only we had something that guaranteed the right to carry a firearm, regardless of where you are or where you live. Hmm…