In the wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen, in which the Supreme Court invalidated portions of New York’s law regulating the concealed carry of handguns, New York enacted the Concealed Carry Improvement Act, which, among other things, defined a number of sensitive places where firearms cannot be carried.

It is a criminal offense to possess a gun in the following sensitive locations:¹

• Any place owned or under the control of federal, state, or local government, for the purposes of government administration, including courts;”
• Any location providing health, behavioral health, or chemical dependence care or services;
• Any place of worship or religious observation;
• Libraries, public playgrounds, public parks, and zoos;
• The location of any program licensed, regulated, certified, funded, or approved by the office of children and family services that provides services to children, youth, or young adults, any legally exempt childcare provider; a childcare program for which a permit to operate such program has been issued by the department of health and mental hygiene pursuant to the health code of the city of New York;
• Nursery schools, preschools, and summer camps;
• The location of any program licensed, regulated, certified, operated, or funded by the office for people with developmental disabilities, the office of addiction services and supports, the office of mental health, or the office of temporary and disability assistance;
• Homeless shelters, runaway homeless youth shelters, family shelters, shelters for adults, domestic violence shelters, and emergency shelters, and residential programs for victims of domestic violence;
• Residential settings licensed, certified, regulated, funded, or operated by the department of health;
• In or upon any building grounds, owned or leased, of any educational institutions, including schools of higher education, public schools, private schools, and charter schools;
• Any place, conveyance, or vehicle used for public transportation or public transit, subway cars, train cars, buses, ferries, railroad, omnibus, marine or aviation transportation; or any facility used for or in connection with service in the transportation of passengers, airports, train stations, subway and rail stations, and bus terminals;
• Any establishment issued a license for on-premise consumption of alcohol or cannabis;
• Any place used for the performance, art entertainment, gaming, or sporting events;
• Any location being used as a polling place;”
• Any public sidewalk or other public area restricted from general public access for a limited time or special event that has been issued a permit for such time or event by a governmental entity, or otherwise subject to specific, heightened law enforcement protection, or has otherwise had such access restricted by a governmental entity, provided such location is identified as such by clear and conspicuous signage;
• Any gathering of individuals to collectively express their constitutional rights to protest or assemble;
• The area commonly known as Times Square, which has been defined by the New York City Counsel as the area bound by Eighth Avenue, Fortieth Street, Sixth Avenue, and Fifty-third street, and the area bound by Ninth Avenue, Fortieth Street, Eighth Avenue, and Forty-Eighth Street,².

These restrictions do not apply to:³

• Federal law enforcement officers carrying pursuant to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act;⁴
• Police officers;
• Designated peace officers;
• Retired police officers,
• Security guards with a special armed registration card in the course of their employment,
• Active-duty military personnel;
• Those licensed to carry a gun pursuant to work as a messenger employed by a bank or express company, on their own business premises, or pursuant to work as a member of the judiciary;
• Government employees who have express written consent to carry a firearm “for the purposes of natural resource protection and management”;
• Those engaged in lawful hunting activity; and
• “[P]ersons operating a program in a sensitive location out of their residence . . . which is licensed, certified, authorized, or funded by the state or a municipality, so long as such possession is in compliance with any rules or regulations applicable to the operation of such program and use or storage of firearms.”

On private property, individuals are prohibited from carrying a gun if the person “knows or reasonably should know that the owner or lessee of such property has not permitted such possession by clear and conspicuous signage . . . [or] otherwise given express consent.”⁵ There are exceptions for police officers; designated peace officers; retired police officers; security guards granted a special armed registration card during the course of their employment; those licensed to carry a gun pursuant to work as a messenger employed by a bank or express company, on their own business premises, or pursuant to work as a member of the judiciary; and those lawfully hunting.⁶

A New York license to carry a handgun is generally not valid in New York City without an additional permit issued by local law enforcement.⁷

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1. N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01-e(2).[↩]
2. N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 10-184.[↩]
3. N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01-e(3).[↩]
4. 18 U.S.C. § 926C.[↩]
5. N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01-d(1).[↩]
6. N.Y. Penal Law § 265.01-d(2).[↩]
7. N.Y. Penal Law § 400.00(6).[↩]