NYPD Exposed for Illegal Delays in Firearms Licensing
What necessitates a citizen’s desire to carry a handgun for self-defense in New York City? Much.
NYC has a crime problem. It is a matter beyond the ability of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to cope with.
“The 2025 crime rate in New York… is 1.2 times greater than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 88.4% of U.S. cities… In the last 5 years, New York has seen rise of violent crime and increasing property crime.”
The problem is made worse by the fact that NYC is home to the largest population in the Country, almost 8.6 million people that are densely packed in an area about 22.66 square miles.
Of that 8.6 million, 175,000 are illegal aliens, and over 3,000 of those are felons. In this environment, “Public Safety,” should be given serious consideration by both the Governor, Kathy Hochul, and the NYC Mayor, Zohran Mamdani. But apparently they aren’t interested in that.
Criminal violence (and property crime often concomitant with criminal violence) is a common feature of the NYC landscape. And random acts of violence directed against innocent citizens occur with regularity in the City.
Kathy Hochul has compounded criminal violence by turning the entire State into a full-blown sanctuary jurisdiction.
Concealed Carry Applications Surged Following Bruen
It is in such an environment that conscientious Americans realize the need, apart from the fundamental right, to carry a handgun for self-defense. Second Amendment advocate, Colion Noir, noted in 2024 that despite the process permit applications doubled in New York City:
“Despite how New York City’s political leaders spin statistics to convince the populace that the metropolis is safe, the people on the street are not buying it. New numbers issued by NYPD officials revealed that license and permit applications to carry weapons more than doubled in 2023.
Unfortunately, the department will not confirm how many of these gun license and concealed carry permit applications were approved. This despite clear guidance by the U.S. Supreme Court in reestablishing that law-abiding citizens have the constitutional right to carry for self-defense.
The high court determined in 2022’s landmark Bruen decision that the state’s regulations on carrying firearms were far too restrictive. . . .
Applications to the NYPD License Division to have a rifle or handgun in the residence soared by 80% over 2022 to 13,369. That total is almost triple the number received in 2019.
Consider NYPD figures on concealed carry permit applications. In 2019, the year before the pandemic and three years before the Bruen decision, the department received only 258.
But in 2023 that number climbed to 6,751.
Even more telling are figures just from the first two months of 2024. The NYPD took in more applications for concealed carry permits in January and February than it did in 2019, 2020 and 2021 combined.
Still, the department is deathly quiet on the number of applications it approved. This could lead a critic to believe that New York officials are not in compliance with the high court’s specific guidance.”
New York Gun Owners Face High Licensing Costs and Lengthy Delays
It is not surprising the NYPD would not want to point to the number of concealed handgun carry licenses it has approved, since the License Division is sitting on thousands of unprocessed applications, many going back a couple of years.
Yet, this failure to process an application promptly isn’t a mere inconvenience for applicants who must pay a $340.00 nonrefundable licensing processing fee, including an $88.75 fingerprint fee, and another required gun safety course fee that can cost between $400.00 to $500.00, or more.
The costs of securing a license to exercise a natural law right to self-defense is mind-boggling.
Considering that an Applicant for a concealed handgun carry license in New York City must spend considerable time, money, and effort for the “privilege” of preserving one’s life and well-being, one would think the NYPD License Division would be assiduous in processing applications promptly and notifying the applicant if there is an unexpected delay in deciding whether to grant or deny issuance of a license.
But more to the point, a timely response by the NYPD License Division isn’t just a matter of common courtesy. It is a compulsory legal obligation—and one the License Division routinely shirks.
New York Law Requires Action on Gun License Applications Within Six Months
Duties imposed on the applicant, by law, are not a one-way street.
The License Division officer has a legal duty imposed on him too. The License Division must promptly notify the applicant in strict accordance with the State’s Handgun Law.
NY CLS Penal § 400.00 (4-b) says:
“Processing of license applications. Applications for licenses shall be accepted for processing by the licensing officer at the time of presentment. Except upon written notice to the applicant specifically stating the reasons for any delay, in each case the licensing officer shall act upon any application for a license pursuant to this section within six months of the date of presentment of such an application to the appropriate authority. Such delay may only be for good cause and with respect to the applicant. In acting upon an application, the licensing officer shall either deny the application for reasons specifically and concisely stated in writing or grant the application and issue the license applied for.”
What accounts for the NYPD License Division’s blasé attitude toward meeting deadlines in processing applications for a handgun carry license? The answer for this attitude is found in the Handgun Law—by its absence: No penalty attaches for the failure of the NYPD License Division to fail to process an application within the 6-month time frame or to explain in writing to the applicant the reason for delay.
To add to the problem there may be a question of corruption.
NYPD License Division Has a History of Corruption
Anecdotally, we have heard some License officers are accepting bribes merely to do what State law mandates from them—timely processing of handgun licenses. Unfortunately, corruption isn’t something new to the NYPD License Division.
CNN wrote about this over ten years ago, citing Arbalest Quarrel’s Co-founder, Stephen L. D’Andrilli.
“‘New York City, as a major city in the U.S., is one of the most restrictive cities in the country concerning gun licensing laws,’ said retired police officer Stephen D’Andrilli, a former NYPD cop who is now a consultant for clients seeking handgun licenses.
“The licensing system is meant to filter out dangerous applicants, like those with a history of domestic violence. But D’Andrilli, who extolls the ‘utmost importance’ of the Second Amendment through his website the Arbalest Quarrel, said the restrictive laws of New York have created an environment that allows a black market to exist.”
Evidently, that same corruption has resurfaced in a City now governed by a Socialist Mayor who detests the institution of policing, and by a Governor who abhors the notion of the armed civilian citizen.
This situation is untenable and begs for corrective legal action.
We have attached our letter to Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch for her attention concerning this matter.
ROGER J. KATZ, ATTORNEY AT LAW
Roger is an attorney licensed to practice law in Ohio and Arizona, and he is CEO of Arbalest Group, LLC.
He is a graduate from Cleveland State University, Cleveland Marshall College of Law, and was an Editor of Law Review, and he has earned a Master of Public Administration Degree from Cleveland State University. Roger also holds several degrees from The Ohio State University: a Master of Arts degree in Philosophy, a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, and a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in Secondary English Education.
Roger has worked as a high school English teacher and as a university administrative assistant. On earning a law degree he worked for several years as a Trademarks Examining Attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington D.C., and later worked as an attorney for a boutique intellectual property law firm in New York City.
Roger’s goal, working full-time on the Arbalest Quarrel website, involves preparing comprehensive and detailed analyses of case law pertaining to First and Second Amendment issues, and analyses of Federal and State laws and bills impacting the Bill of Rights, generally, and the Second Amendment, particularly.
Roger takes as axiomatic that, to maintain a free Constitutional Republic, our Bill of Rights must be preserved. If the latter falls, the former falls.