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A friend is looking at purchasing a handgun in Staten Island and has asked for a referral to a lawyer who can walk him through the requirements. Does anybody here have a referral or a source for a referral that's a step above Google? NRA or other website? One of the CC insurers? Thanks.
I went through the process ten years ago (I do not believe the process
has changed) and I did not find the attorneys helpful. Mostly they
promised to "expedite" your paperwork for pistols. Several attorneys
got busted for bribing the officers handling the paperwork a few years
after my paperwork went through. The lawyers are expensive and it is
not clear to me that they can provide any useful service. The
Manhattan Gun range will also help you fill out the pistol permit
forms if you need help. I did not know that at the time and filled it
out myself.
The pistol permit stuff took me a good 6 months to go through the
system. There were several trips involved to 1 Penn Plaza (including
fingerprinting, which costs extra for a pistol permit, and an
"interview" where they verify that you understand some basic legal
theory about self defense). I was so unsettled by the laws which make
it illegal for you to ever take your pistols out of NYC (how can you
take high quality classes? How can you get a gunsmith to fix your
pistol?) that I hired a lawyer to explain the NYC laws to me since I
did not believe what I was hearing from the officers. All in all it
was not a difficult process, nor was their much paper work, there was
much waiting involved. I do not see the need to hire a lawyer to help
with this unless there is extenuating circumstances.
On the other hand, the shotgun/rifle department is a whole separate
department in Queens and they are much more helpful and work much
faster and the laws around long guns make far more sense. Also the
Beretta store in Manhattan stocks 1301's and Tikka's and you can
easily walk out with one and get it repaired, in house, if you need
to. I found the gunsmith in that store to be most helpful.
I don't know about NYC, but Erie County is shut down for the time being. I don't imagine NYC will be spending much resources on the pistol permits there. Just saying, it might be better to see if they are even taking applications.
Thanks. I'll certainly pass that on. If anybody has had a good experience, or can recommend a resource, that would be appreciated too.