Advocates push for streamlined pistol permit recertification amid new laws
- Admin
- Jan 31
- 2 min read
Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Legal gun owners in New York state may have to recertify their licenses in 2025, due to a change of laws in recent years.
With the 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act came a year-long transition period and new deadlines for recertification after August 2023.
The New York State Police web page reads in part: "Anyone who had a concealed carry permit issued before Sep. 1, 2020, will have until Aug. 31, 2023, to recertify. In addition, those individuals who were issued a concealed carry permit or recertified after Sep. 1, 2020, will not become due to recertify under the new law before Aug. 31, 2023, and may therefore wait to recertify until the third year after permit issuance or their last recertification."
Monroe County Clerk Jamie Romeo elaborated further.
"If you have a carry concealed permit, you have a three-year cycle," she said. "If you have a possess-on-premise or possess-during-employment, you have a five-year cycle. If you have a carry concealed permit, and you also have the semiautomatic rifle endorsement on one permit every three years you need to recertify with the state police, and every five years you have to recertify with the licensing officer."
While the clerk's office processed an estimated 3,000 applications last year, permit holders do not return to the clerk's office for recertification. Instead, they do so through state police.
It's a process Romeo calls splintered, and said she is advocating to change for more simplicity in order to facilitate better records management.
"Recertification is a state police process," Romeo said. "We can provide the information, but we can't do it for individuals. It's definitely one that the changes in the timelines, but also, with the potential splintering, is definitely adding more confusion out there."
Brandon Lewis, owner of The Firing Pin in Bergen, recently co-hosted a state-mandated training class, another byproduct of the 2022 law.
"It's a mixed bag," he said of the recertification process.
"There are definitely pros and cons of having the system that we do in New York, where every county has different rules and processes," said Lewis. "I do think it would be better, from an educational standpoint, to have one set state standard."
Romeo and Lewis recommend visiting the New York State Police portal, where you can view the requirements, recertify online and check the status.
The important takeaway: "You have to remember to do this," Lewis said. "Otherwise, technically, you do face revocation or suspension of your permit."
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