New York City's new "emergency rule" allowing non-residents to apply for a concealed carry license is rightfully being hailed as a big win for the Second Amendment by Gun Owners of America, which was behind a lawsuit filed by Newsmax host (and friend) Carl Higbie and several other gun owners. But as we discuss on today's Bearing Arms' Cam & Co, the new rule has some issues of its own that are likely going to stop many non-residents from even starting the onerous process of obtaining a Second Amendment permission slip. 

The new rule, which can be read in its entirety here, isn't easy to understand. In fact, I originally (and erroneously) thought that the city was still imposing a requirement that applicants hand over details of all of their social media accounts going back three years, but as it turns out that's one aspect of the permitting regime that's gone away, at least for the time being. 

🚨UPDATE: New York City has eliminated the blatantly unconstitutional requirement that gun owners submit social media accounts for inspection.

This comes as part of NYC's changes to concealed carry permit application following our lawsuits Antonyuk v. James and Higbie v. James. https://t.co/beSTskKe6N pic.twitter.com/bppq0MfuAq

— Gun Owners Foundation (@GunFoundation) August 10, 2024

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals had already ruled back in January that the state's requirement that applicants disclose their social media accounts "imposes a burden on the right to bear arms that is without sufficient analogue in our nation’s history or tradition of firearms regulation", so the city isn't exactly doing gun owners a favor. It's merely complying with the current status of the state's Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

There are, unfortunately, still plenty of other hoops for out-of-state gun owners to comply with before they can receive a carry permit, however. 

All applicants, for instance, must provide proof that they've completed the state's 18-hour training course within six months of submitting their application. Given that neither New York State nor New York City has allowed non-residents to apply for a concealed carry license in the past (unless they're either a part-time resident or principally employed in the state), there a dearth of instructors who are even teaching New York's course. In fact, I'm not aware of any opportunity to take a New York course outside of the state. For the time being, anyway, non-residents are expected to travel to New York and spend at least two days taking the concealed carry course before they can even submit their application to the NYPD Licensing Bureau. 

In addition to the training mandate, the NYPD is also requiring out-of-state applicants to submit a form that "reflects the results of a background check investigation undertaken for the purposes of obtaining a firearm license or firearm." 

The applicant shall provide such form to the local law enforcement agency in each jurisdiction in which the applicant has in the five years preceding the date of the applicant's application for a license pursuant to this subdivision and shall submit such completed Form to the Licensing Division. 

In other words, the NYPD Licensing Bureau won't be relying on a background check of their own. They want your local police department to do their own check and fill out the NYPD's paperwork. Additionally, the NYPD says that "if the applicant holds a firearms license or permit in any other jurisdiction, such applicant must submit a form provided by the department, indicating the current and past status of any firearms licenses held by the applicant", including any previous suspensions or revocations. 

In some jurisdictions that might not be much of an issue, but in places that are taking their own sweet time in processing carry applications or jurisdictions where lawful gun ownership is viewed with hostility, it could be a real challenge to get licensing authorities to comply with the NYPD's demands in a timely manner. 

Once applicants have all of their paperwork in hand and have coughed up the more than $400 in non-refundable fees that NYC charges to process a permit application, they also have to travel to the Big Apple to sit for an in-person interview with the NYPD Licensing Bureau. At a minimum, that means taking a day off of work and shelling out the cost of getting back and forth to New York City for the sit-down interview. For residents of nearby states like New Jersey and Connecticut the cost might not be too prohibitive (though the demands on their time might still force some would-be applicants to hold off), but the impact grows every larger the farther away you live from the five boroughs. 

From what I've seen, most of the New York carry training courses cost about $400 to attend. Add in the additional $340 for a handgun permit application, the $88.25 the NYPD charges for fingerprinting, and the cost of travel and housing while participating in the training and the in-person interview, and many non-residents who want to exercise their Second Amendment rights in New York City will have to fork over four figures before they can lawfully carry there. 

In theory, New York City's emergency rule now allows for non-residents to obtain a carry license. In practice, however, the city is still imposing an untenable burden on the exercise of a fundamental civil right. GOA's Erich Pratt says the group is ready to file another lawsuit if the NYPD doesn't start issuing non-resident permits "in a timely and non-onerous manner." Based on the new rules, I'd say additional litigation is a near-certainty. At least NYC has officially recognized its blanket prohibition on non-resident carry is legally untenable, which will be helpful when the inevitable follow-up lawsuits are filed.