Expert: Dean Speir - 12/21/2010

Question
I'm in the process of gathering all paperwork for premiss/target permit. I have two summons for possession of marijuana one when i was 16 and one 18...im 31 now. the charges were pretty much dropped, no conviction..one is even sealed   due to my age.driving record  clean maybe 1 speeding ticket at 18yrs old.  I have to provide a full disposition of any arrests  and any use of narcotics,do i just write down that I experimented with pot as a kid? Idont want to admit to some thing I was never convicted of...I don't know which way to go on this one.???? Please help.

Answer
Hello, Jared… excuse the delay in responding as this question seems to have slipped through the cracks.

You apparently neglected to read the guidelines for this topic, since this is for questions about the Second Amendment, not the Criminal Justice system or the New York City Pistol Licensing process.

However, in the spirit of the holidays, and since Governors Paterson of NY  and Christie of NJ are performing good deeds right and left, I'll discuss some basics that might guide you.

The first thing you need to know is that under Mayor Bloomberg, this is perhaps the toughest period in NYC history for ANYONE to obtain a handgun license… and it is a License, not a Permit.

In your case, you're making it easy for the Licensing Bureau at #1 Police Plaza to deny you because of your Criminal Justice history… and they will want to know EVERY "contact" (as they term it) with police you've every had.

Now you make think your "Youthful Offender" records are sealed, and to an extent they are, but there is a file number of that record and it will show up when the investigating authorities perform their background checks.

If you neglect to list that "contact" from when you were 16 years old, your application will almost certainly be rejected on the basis that you have lied and are therefore not a person of Good Character. They may not know exactly what you did, only that you did "something" and failed to list it.

As for not "admitting to some thing your were never convicted of," it was still a police contact, wasn't it?!

You probably are not going to get a license anyway, but do NOT give them an easy reason to deny your application. Remember, that for the rest of your life, any license you apply for anywhere (pilot's license, liquor license if you want to be in the restaurant business, etc.) will ask if you have ever had any license application denied, and they will check! (Computers make this so easy in this electronic information age.)

Make them deny you for their own cause, not one you are handing them with a big Christmas bow around it!

On your side in this matter is that you aver that you have had no police contacts for the past 13 years, and that may count in your favor… although probably not in NYC where #1PP since Bloomberg took office, have been looking to not renew existing licenses!

In short, answer the questions on the application truthfully, and do not "explain" anything unless you are specifically asked to do so.

G'luck and happy holidays.