New York - Gun Trust Lawyer Category Archives — NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog Published by Florida Gun Trust Attorneys

July 1, 2013

Transferring firearms to a Gun Trust without Criminal Sanctions

As more lawyers begin to dabble with Gun Trusts we are seeing many who do not understand firearms and their unique nature which can often involve criminal penalties related to the improper transfer, possession, and use related to firearms or ammunition.

While it is fine to transfer a pair or sox, coins, most personal property to your trust without doing anything other than assigning it, the transfer of restricted items like firearms or ammunition is a different matter. If you can sell a gun to an individual in your state without going through a dealer you should be able to transfer a firearm to your trust without going through dealer. This is the case in most states.

In a few states like California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania where all personal transfers of some or all firearms must go through a background check, there may be no exception for transferring a firearm to a trust even if it is your own trust. Sure an argument could be made that there is no transfer and as such you should not have to go through a dealer, but why would one take the risk.

October 24, 2012

Police Officer Pleads Guilty to having Silencer in NY

by David M. Goldman

It appears that a former deputy in NY had some firearms that had been previously seized by the police in his personal possession even though they were suppose to be destroyed. One of the items in his possession was a silencer. While it appears that active duty police are permitted to have silencers, once they are no longer a police officer they cannot possess them. The specific details on how he received the silencer are not know, but even if he legally possessed it, once he was no longer a police officer his possession in NY would be in violation of the law.

We are often contacted by NY police officers wanting to set up gun trusts to buy silencers in NY and generally advise against it because of the risks of separation from the police and the consequences. Some police officers form trusts and buy and keep NFA firearms in other states where they are legal but it is risky to bring them to NY.

March 17, 2009

How to Explain a Gun Trust to Family or Friends who are not Pro Firearms Rights

by David M. Goldman

Recently my wife was in New York visiting some family when they attempted to convince her that I, her husband, was helping criminals avoid background checks and arming them with machine guns, assault weapons, and other “illegal” firearms. Additionally, the opined that my NFA Gun Trust Lawyer® website was a radical Gun Rights forum.

While I would not find this hard to believe coming from people who live in the Northeast, I did find it hard to believe from transplanted New Yorkers who live in Texas and been surrounded by individual gun owners and guns being a part of the culture. In trying to explain what I do to some family members including my wife, I found that there were some basic misunderstandings of the process, and the state of the interpretation of the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution as the Supreme Court interpreted it last year. I decided that this would be valuable for many of my clients who are often dealing with similar issues. Many people have family members or friends who are uneducated on the current status and interpretation of the Second Amendment. As a result many people feel that there is an interpretation issue surrounding what the Second Amendment means. While the Supreme court in a divided court found in favor of the individuals right to own a firearm, they unanimously found that the Second Amendment applied to an individuals right to keep and bear arms and not to that of a state. We are at a time in history, when many of our rights involved in gun ownership are at risk. Even though our current administration states that they support the Second Amendment, the do not support it as it has recently been interpreted and have an agenda posted on their website under urban plans to ban assault weapons. They are currently trying to define an assault weapon as any firearm that have a removable cartridge.

While some people are not “pro-firearms,” they still may believe in the ability for others to exercise their 2nd amendment right if they so choose. This is similar to people that are “pro-choice” on abortion issues, but do not impose their beliefs on others. In the United States, women have the right to choose (within limitations) and Americans have the right to own firearms (within limitations), without unnecessary burdens or restrictions from the State government. Whether or not you choose to possess the firearm is a decision that should be up to you just as other individual rights that are guaranteed to us in the US constitution.

February 9, 2009

Where are Assault Weapons Banned Today

by David M. Goldman

With the recent discussions about the potential federal ban on assault weapons being reinstated, I thought it would be interesting to see which states already have bans on Assault Weapons

California bans “assault weapons”, .50BMG caliber firearms, some .50 caliber ammunition and “unsafe handguns.”

Connecticut Bans “assault weapons” as well as select fire machine guns.

July 8, 2008

Valid Reasons for NFA trust in other State

by David M. Goldman

Generally when creating a NFA trust, one must look to the laws of their state and how they affect the right to own a class III firearm.

What happens if you live in New York or any state where some Class III firearms are banned but plan to use and keep them in another state where they are legal? Can you a resident of a state where the item is banned purchase, store, and use the items in a state where its legal.

According to the ATF, an individual can purchase an item restricted by the NFA that is not permitted in the state of residence of the trustee, when the trust will be located, and item will be only used and maintained in states where it is legal.

June 8, 2008

States Without Constitutional Rights to Bear Arms

by David M. Goldman

STATES WITHOUT CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS:

Only a few states do not have a constitutional provision dealing withe the right to bear arms: California, Iowa, Maryland,

Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York.

April 9, 2008

New York (NY) What NFA Firearms can I own?

by David M. Goldman

New York NFA Class 3 firearms
There are several type of Class 3 items that are restricted by the National Firearms Act.

Each state can impose additional restrictions on the sale, purchase, and transfer of class 3 firearms in addition to the compliance that is required with the national Firearms Act.

In New York you can own the following items that are regulated the the National Firearms Act