Expert: Robert P. Firriolo - 10/8/2010

Question
Hello,
   My question is regarding how my juvenile record would affect me getting a pistol permit here in NY State. I grew up in Massachusetts and that is where I was quite an idiot as a juvenile. The serious charges include a couple of breaking and entering in the night time w/intent to commit a felony (car stereos) and I believe a simple assault. I was found delinquent on these charges These were committed when I was 15 or 16? I was hanging around with the wrong people and was a follower I am now in my late 20's with a family. I have grown up. I was honorably discharged from the military and now work as a County Corrections Officer for the Sheriffs Dept.

     I did not disclose my juvenile record during my interview because I did not think that I needed to, at least that is what I was told while I was in the military. I was subsequently hired and have been working their just fine.

    If I am already a certified Peace Officer in NY, wouldn't that also mean that I am eligible to carry concealed? I am just confused because I do not know what to put on my pistol permit application because it asks for ALL offenses. I didn't list the juvenile offenses for my interview to be a corrections officer and I have been just fine.
    I am assuming that during the background investigation for me to become a Peace Officer in the state of New York, my juvenile record would have been seen already anyways correct? I am afraid to fill out the pistol permit application because I do not have all of the dates and charges from my juvenile record. I have tried to get them but the only response I got from the Court in MA was that I needed to be there in person to get that information. They did say however, that that it was surprising that I was attempting to get a pistol permit in NY and even more surprising that I had been hired to work in a Law Enforcement position given my charges as a juvenile. I am totally lost now and have no idea what to do.

I am hoping you can help guide me in the right direction because unfortunately nobody else has been able to yet. All I want to do is get pistol. That juvenile stuff was a lifetime ago and I am sure that I must be deemed to be a person of good moral character, otherwise I wouldn't have been hired by the Sheriffs dept. in the first place right?

Your guidance and feedback on this matter is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
When a criminal background check is run for a NYS pistol license, ALL arrests, even those that are "sealed," are likely to show up. You are required to list ALL arrests on the application. Failure to list one because you thought it was sealed, or even if it resulted in an expunged conviction, will likely result in a denial because you failed to disclose the information, not because of the arrest itself.

I do not know what searches were run, or what criteria were used, for your particular law enforcement job's background check. So I can't tell you that just because you were hired your background check didn't show the arrests.

What you can do is send your fingerprints to DCJS and get a copy of your arrest record, including the sealed portion, and see just what will come up when the search is run for your license application. You can also try to have the correct any errors you spot. See here: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/ojis/recordreview.htm

Not all NYS peace officers may carry without a license. Peace officers as defined by section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law do not need a carry license to be exempt from most criminal firearm possession laws, unless that section specifically says so (and there are many exceptions, including for sheriff's employees). Subsection 25 of that section includes as "peace officers": "Officials, as designated by the commissioner of the department of correctional services pursuant to rules of the department, and correction officers of any state correctional facility or of any penal correctional institution."

If you fall within that definition, you would not need a license to lawfully posses a firearm. If you do not fall within that definition, you will have to check the section to see what category of peace officer you fit into, and whether that category requires a license or not.

Addendum: Decisions of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, have held that corrections officers at county jails are "peace officers" at a "penal correctional institution" as that term is used in CPL 2.10(25). See People v. Velasquez, 202 A.D.2d 1037, 1038, 609 N.Y.S.2d 717 (4th Dept. 1995), lv. denied, 84 N.Y.2d 940, 621 N.Y.S.2d 537 (1995); People v. Holloway, 61 A.D.2d 658, 691 N.Y.S.2d 583 (3rd Dept. 1999).