Expert: Robert P. Firriolo - 3/27/2011

Question
Hello! I'm from Brooklyn, NY and a have a collection of antique percussion revolvers of Civil Was era. I have a Colt 1851 Navy, Colt Arny 1862 and a couple of other similar revolvers. Recently i found out that i have to have a license in order to own these guns. Please let me know if its true and if yes, what kind of license should i get and where. Thanks for your help!

Answer
When you say "I'm from Brooklyn, NY" I assume that means you live in New York City and are asking about the law from the perspective of a City resident.

A muzzle loading revolver is not a "firearm" under federal or New York State law. It is considered an "antique firearm" under both sets of laws. However, it must be "unloaded" in New York State since the definition of "antique firearm" in State Penal Law 265.00 (14) specifies "unloaded." That means that if one has muzzle loading revolvers in New York State, no license is necessary as long as he or she does not possess powder, bullets, and percussion caps to make it fire. A pistol license is necessary if one has the guns and items that make it fire.

New York City has its own laws and rules that often go beyond State law. However, under the New York City Administrative Code, the term "firearm" also does not include an unloaded antique revolver (secs. 10-301(1)(d), (18)). I am not aware of any current NYPD licensing guidelines that are specific to antique revolvers. Under the State law discussed above, if a NYC resident wishes to load and fire an antique firearm, or even possess powder, cap and ball for it, he or she is required to obtain a NYC pistol license from the police department.

NYPD may still assert that one needs a license to possess an antique firearm even if the owner does not possess any ammunition for it. In an incident that was widely reported in the news in 2009, NYPD insisted that a City resident was required to have a rifle/shotgun permit for his Revolutionary War era musket reproduction, even though the City code and rules do not require such a permit, and in fact explicitly exclude such antique rifles from licensing requirements. The point here being that no gun owner in New York City can rest comfortably thinking he is in compliance with the law when the agency charged with enforcing the law does not even bother to follow the law. The 2009 musket incident shows that NYPD may (and probably will) require a license for an antique firearm even though the law does not require one.

Further inquiries as to NYPD's official position on unloaded antique revolvers should be directed to the NYPD License Division.