How many Can I Carry in New York Now?

[joeykatp]

Hi,
I cannot figure out after the NY Court decision last year declaring the 7 round limit unconstitutional, if it is OK to carry 10 rounds, or are we still legally limited to 7? Are we waiting for further court decisions? In the meantime is the law still on the books?
I know many will say to defy laws etc, but I and my spouses livelihood would not stand a conviction of this kind if a police agency and district attorney decided to prosecute, and if they got a conviction.
Does anyone have an answer please?

 

[nogods]

Unfortunately it is impossible to give a definitive answer because Judge Sketney's decision is only binding in Judge Skretney's court. Another federal district court judge could rule otherwise. Any state court judge could rule otherwise.

I believe the case is on Appeal. If affirmed by the Second Circuit then and only then will all federal district court judges in the Second Circuit be bound by the decision.

But state court judges could still opine otherwise, although not likely to do so because if the conviction were upheld on appeal the prisoner would be able to get into a federal district court via a habeas petition.

 

[joeykatp]

Thanks for the reply! It was what I thought, but was hoping someone had more news. The safe act was passed in the dark hours in minutes, and now it will take years to fix.

 

[andy1101]

I recently spoke with a gun store owner in Monroe county, who also happens to be retired LEO and asked him this question. His reply that it is legal to have 10 rounds in the mag and one round chambered.


Sent from my iPhone using USA Carry

 

[lordcochise]

It's still a bit of a gray area; there's a memorandum of understanding between the governor's office and legislature (Cuomo agrees to changes to NY Safe Act regarding ammunition sales | syracuse.com) that they won't enforce the 7-round limit and you're OK with 10, but that wasn't a specific change to the SAFE act, just a 'we won't enforce that part of it', which could theoretically be rescinded at any future time w/o legislative input. They probably WON'T rescind it because it would open up the SAFE act to the struck-down mag limit provision to be able to be appealed to a higher court, which may open up more of the Act to be challenged.

So for the most part, yes you'll be fine with whatever lawful level of carry you're permitted for with 10 rounds (from the '94 law), just be aware that some areas (mainly urban areas) can still decide to enforce it at the local level rather than the state level; We don't have state preemption for firearms (Local Authority to Regulate Firearms in New York | Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence) and there are cases where local statutes have been ruled one way or the other. A few years ago the training was '10-round mags are legal, but you can only have 7 rounds in it', which is of course ludicrous (and was struck down later on), but there were at one time some local agencies thought to actually be enforcing that, so some firearms trainers were recommending this to help avoid issues.

State troopers will only enforce 10, most sheriff's offices aren't enforcing most provisions of the SAFE Act at all, so just be conscious of areas like Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany, and of course, NYC (Only rich unicorns can carry there anyway)