Expert: Robert P. Firriolo - 12/5/2010

Question
Hello,
    
   After having read the 'requirements' to qualify for full time concealed
carry license I would like to know if there is any advantage in hiring a
firearms attorney to assist me in the application process. I currently have
a valid Suffolk County Sportsman (home & target) license and I am a
member in good standing of my community and a small business owner. I
do not do cash deposits, and my life has (thankfully) never been
threatened.

    I am hoping that perhaps by hiring a firearms attorney to assit me with
the application I will be able to appeal to the licensing authority on firmer
legal ground.  I view this as an issue of my rights more than any pressing
need to actually carry a pistol full time.

    Is there any advantage in pursuing this line of thinking?

Thank you in advance,
Mike  

Answer
It is very difficult to give you a definitive answer to your question. The main value I see to using an attorney proficient in licensing matters to help an applicant is where the applicant needs help articulating why he or she fits within the department's established criteria for a "Business" license or a "Full Carry" license ("You must show that you are exposed to extraordinary personal danger, documented by proof of recurrent threats to life or safety, requiring authorization to carry a firearm.") If an applicant is capable of filling out the application correctly and explaining clearly why he or she "needs" the license, then the attorney's role at that stage is questionable

However, such an attorney may be of help in arguing that an applicant fits into the same category as other applicants who have been issued licenses, and thus it would be "arbitrary and capricious" for SCPD to deny the application. In other words, the attorney may be able to show that it would be wrong to deny a given applicant because others who demonstrated the same or similar need were granted licenses.

While an attorney may be helpful in the borderline cases, that is, where the applicant arguably fits within one of the criteria, it is unlikely they will be of much help where the applicant does not have an articulable business need or cannot show any "extraordinary personal danger, documented by proof of recurrent threats."