Firearms: Pistol Permit Bureau
Applications should be printed double-sided.
- PPB-3: Pistol/Revolver License Application
- PPB-5: Firearms License Amendment
- PPB-6: Application for License as Gunsmith - Dealer in Firearms
* Submit completed applications to your county licensing department. The county licensing departments will forward approved applications to the NYSP Pistol Permit Bureau for filing.
New York State repository since 1936
Established in 1936, the Pistol Permit Bureau holds records of every legal handgun transaction that takes place in the State and is a repository for the mandated "records of transaction" that accompany sales by gun dealers or between private citizens. This would include:
- pistol permit amendments,
- purchase coupons, and
- dealer transaction slips.
Bureau responsibilities
All records of transaction and pistol permits issued in the state are forwarded to the Pistol Permit Bureau for entry into a master database maintained by NYSP. Documents are filed by county and type of transaction. A paper trail is established for each handgun lawfully possessed in NYS; thus, a handgun can be tracked from owner to owner. Current ownership of the weapon and the legality of a person's possession of the weapon can be quickly determined.
In less than 24 hours, bureau personnel are able to provide police investigators from agencies across the country with information pertaining to handguns that may have been involved in the commission of a crime.
Pistol Permit Bureau personnel:
- Help answer questions pertaining to the pistol permit process for police agencies, elected representatives and the public.
- Provide documentation to law enforcement agencies regarding a person's right to possess a specific handgun, instantly giving information on gun ownership and licenses.
- Keep track of handguns personally owned and possessed by law enforcement personnel.
- Track inventory of weapons (machineguns, handguns, short-barreled rifles or shotguns) that are subject to regulations and independently stored by law enforcement agencies.
- Oversee, review and authorize the destruction of nuisance weapons by state law enforcement agencies.
2006 Pistol Permit Bureau statistics
At the end of 2006, information on 1,200,980 firearms was on file, including 11,344 received during the year.
During 2006:
- 67,117 licenses were amended and 6,237were canceled or revoked.
- 40 new firearms dealer and gunsmith licenses were received and filed.
- 626 dealer and gunsmith licenses were renewed.
- Retail firearms dealers reported 93,168 transactions.
As mandated by law, 15,344 nuisance firearms were destroyed in New York State, 1,394 of which were destroyed by NYSP.