Questions remain about implementation of new gun laws across NYS

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — New gun laws are set to go into effect here in New York on Thursday. Over the weekend, the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the NYS Troopers posted an updated FAQ section regarding how the state plans to implement them.

As News10NBC has been reporting since last week, those who already have a concealed-carry permit in Upstate New York will NOT need to take the new training that will be required of people looking to get a new permit. “Existing permit holders that are going through recertification are not going to have to do that training, we’ve now seen it in black-and-white from DCJS themselves,” says Monroe County Clerk Jamie Romeo.

If you’ve already applied for a permit in an upstate county and are still waiting to hear back. “We know it’s a bit of a longer process but we’re asking people to sit tight if it’s already in progress,” says Romeo.

If you haven’t yet applied for a concealed-carry permit or, if you have an appointment scheduled on or after September 1, you will need to have 16 hours of classroom training and 2 hours of live-fire training before your application can be accepted. “We’re doing the best that we can to provide information as soon as we can but if they are planning to come in on Sept. 1. and apply for a carry-concealed, if they don’t have all the parts of that, they might not be able to submit,” explains Romeo.

Firearms instructors just got the basic guidelines from New York State on the requirements for the training on Friday. They now have to develop the curriculum, find the staff and schedule the classes. “We are still looking at those details [how much the class will cost] but it’s going to be somewhere around $400 because we have to pay staff, we have to pay for the classroom, we also have to pay for range-use and we gotta pay for materials,” explains Dave Jenkins, an instructor and the owner of Rochester Personal Defense.

There’s another, separate part of the new law that is going to impact many people too. Starting September 4th, Sunday, you won’t be able to purchase a semi-automatic rifle without a new license.

The license will be required only to purchase/take ownership and possess new firearms. At the moment there is no application available for the license though and no way to add the designation to a current license. Romeo says they are waiting for those documents from NYS. “I expect a lot of things to happen in the next couple of days,” she tells News10NBC. “We’re hopeful today will be a busy day and we can learn as much as we can.”

It is important to note that the implementation of certain sections of these new laws may get halted in the next few days. A federal lawsuit has been filed looking for an injunction. During the hearing last week, the Judge said he hoped to rule on the injunction before the effective date of the law.

Training Guidelines: FINAL NYSP-DCJS Minimum Standards for Firearm Safety Training 8-23-22.pdf

FAQ on Implementation of New Laws: https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/pio/New-Gun-Law-FAQ-8-27-22.pdf