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, as made plain by the New York City, NY crime statistics.
The 2025 crime rate in New York, . . . is 1.2 times greater than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 88.4% 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.
It is in such an environment that conscientious Americans realize the need, apart from the fundamental right, to carry a handgun for self-defense. See the article by Colion Noir (attorney, Second Amendment expert, and avid supporter of the fundamental right of the people to keep and bear arms, “New York City Carry Applications Double in One Year,” posted on May 1, 2024, on the author’s website. A portion of that article is reposted below:
“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.”
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.
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.” [emphasis our own]
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.
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.
Note: We have drafted a letter to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, bringing this matter to her attention. Below is a copy of that letter——
October 23, 2026 via FedEx Priority Overnight
The Honorable Jessica S. Tisch
Police Commissioner
New York City Police Department
One Police Plaza, 14th Fl.
New York, N.Y. 10038Re: NYPD License Division
Dear Commissioner Tisch,
We are writing to express our concern over the License Division’s handling of applications for handgun licenses.
NY CLS Penal § 400.00 (4-b) sets forth that “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.
It has come to our attention that the License Division has not cohered to these stringent requirements. We have published our concern in an article, enclosed with this letter.
We ask you to look into this matter and take corrective action consistent with the State’s Handgun Law.
Sincerely,
/s/Roger Katz
Roger J. Katz,
Co-Founder and CEO
________________
*This is a reposting of the AQ article that originally appeared on Ammoland Shooting Sports News on October 23, 2022.
The article appearing here on the AQ website is the same, apart from some minor parenthetical descriptive matter pertaining to the weblinks, and in the matter of formatting the content for our website.