2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 11 - Fish and Wildlife › Title 9 - Hunting › 11-0931 - Prohibitions on the Use and Possession of Firearms.

§ 11-0931. Prohibitions on the use and possession of firearms.
1.  No  person  except a law enforcement officer in the performance of
his official duties shall use in hunting or possess  in  the  fields  or
forests or on the waters of the state for any purpose:
a. the apparatus known as a silencer;
b.  any  automatic firearm, or any firearm which has been converted to
an automatic type, or  any  firearm  which  has  a  built-in  mechanical
adjustment which will permit it to function as an automatic arm; or
c. any auto-loading firearm of a construction to contain more than six
shells in the magazine and chamber combined, except
(1) such a firearm using twenty-two caliber rim-fire ammunition, or
(2) such a firearm which has been altered so as to reduce its capacity
to  not  more  than  six  shells at one time in the magazine and chamber
combined, or
(3) an auto-loading pistol having a barrel less than eight  inches  in
length.
d.  An automatic firearm is defined as one which will continue to fire
as long as the trigger is held back. An auto-loading firearm is  defined
as  one  which  reloads  itself  after  each  shot and requires that the
trigger be pulled back for each shot.
* 2. a. No crossbow or firearm except a pistol or  revolver  shall  be
carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for
a  crossbow  or  unloaded,  for  a  firearm  in both the chamber and the
magazine, except that a loaded firearm which may  be  legally  used  for
taking  migratory  game birds may be carried or possessed in a motorboat
while being legally used in hunting migratory  game  birds,  and  b.  no
person  except  a  law  enforcement  officer  in  the performance of his
official duties or a nuisance wildlife specialist with a  permit  issued
pursuant  to  section  11-0522  of  this  article,  provided  that  such
activities are in furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan,
or a nuisance wildlife specialist  with  a  permit  issued  pursuant  to
section  11-0522-a of this article, provided that such activities are in
furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan, shall,  while  in
or  on  a  motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight or other artificial
light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she is in possession  or  is
accompanied  by  a person who is in possession, at the time of such use,
of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of  any  kind  except  a  pistol  or
revolver, unless such longbow or crossbow is unstrung or such firearm or
crossbow  is  taken down or securely fastened in a case or locked in the
trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this  subdivision,  motor  vehicle
shall  mean  every  vehicle  or other device operated by any power other
than muscle power, and  which  shall  include  but  not  be  limited  to
automobiles,  trucks,  motorcycles,  tractors,  trailers and motorboats,
snowmobiles  and  snowtravelers,  whether  operated  on  or  off  public
highways.  Notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  this  subdivision,  the
department may issue a permit  to  any  person  who  is  non-ambulatory,
except  with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in
or on a motor vehicle as  defined  in  this  section,  subject  to  such
restrictions  as  the  department  may deem necessary in the interest of
public safety. Nothing in this  section  permits  the  possession  of  a
pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law.
* NB Effective until January 1, 2027
* 2.  No  crossbow  or  firearm  except  a pistol or revolver shall be
carried or possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is uncocked, for
a crossbow or unloaded, for a  firearm  in  both  the  chamber  and  the
magazine,  except  that  a  loaded firearm which may be legally used for
taking migratory game birds may be carried or possessed in  a  motorboat
while  being legally used in hunting migratory game birds, and no person

except a law enforcement officer in  the  performance  of  his  official
duties shall, while in or on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight, spotlight
or  other  artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he or she is
in possession or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at the
time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind except
a  pistol  or  revolver,  unless such longbow or crossbow is unstrung or
such firearm or crossbow is taken down or securely fastened in a case or
locked in the trunk of the vehicle. For purposes  of  this  subdivision,
motor  vehicle  shall mean every vehicle or other device operated by any
power other than muscle power,  and  which  shall  include  but  not  be
limited  to  automobiles,  trucks,  motorcycles,  tractors, trailers and
motorboats, snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated  on  or  off
public highways. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the
department  may  issue  a  permit  to  any person who is non-ambulatory,
except with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm  in
or  on  a  motor  vehicle  as  defined  in this section, subject to such
restrictions as the department may deem necessary  in  the  interest  of
public  safety.  Nothing  in  this  section  permits the possession of a
pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal law.
* NB Effective January 1, 2027
3. No  person  shall  discharge  a  firearm  in  a  "restricted  area"
established  pursuant  to  section 11-0321, contrary to the terms of the
restriction prohibiting or restricting such discharge.
4. a. No person shall:
(1) discharge a firearm, crossbow or long bow in such a  way  as  will
result in the load, bolt, or arrow thereof passing over a public highway
or any part thereof;
(2)  discharge  a  firearm within five hundred feet, a long bow within
one hundred fifty feet, or a crossbow within two hundred fifty feet from
a dwelling house, farm building or farm structure actually  occupied  or
used,  school building, school playground, public structure, or occupied
factory or church;
(3) use a firearm or a long bow for  the  hunting  of  migratory  game
birds  in  Larchmont  Harbor, specifically those portions bounded by the
following points of land:
BEGINNING AT A POINT KNOWN AS UMBRELLA POINT  ON  THE  EAST  SHORE  OF
LARCHMONT  HARBOR  THEN  PROCEEDING  IN  A  NORTHERLY DIRECTION TO CEDAR
ISLAND; THENCE NORTHWESTERLY TO MONROE INLET;  THENCE  NORTHEASTERLY  TO
DELANCY  COVE BEING IN THE TOWN OF MAMARONECK; THENCE IN A SOUTHWESTERLY
DIRECTION FROM DELANCY COVE TO GREACEN POINT; THENCE  RUNNING  THE  AREA
BETWEEN  DELANCY COVE AND THE WEST SHORE OF SATANS TOE NORTHEAST; THENCE
SOUTHEAST THEN ALONG THE WEST SHORE OF SATANS  TOE  SOUTHWEST  AND  THEN
SOUTH TO THE SOUTHERLY POINT OF SATANS TOE TO EDGEWATER POINT.
(4)  Use  of a firearm or a long bow for the hunting of migratory game
birds in Udall's Cove, specifically those portions of  Little  Neck  Bay
within  Nassau  and  Queens  counties lying east of a line running north
from the foot of Douglaston Parkway to the shore opposite.
b. The prohibitions contained in subparagraph 2 of paragraph  a  above
shall not apply to:
* (1)  The  owner  or  lessee of the dwelling house, or members of his
immediate family actually residing therein, or a person in  his  employ,
or  the  guest  of the owner or lessee of the dwelling house acting with
the consent of said owner or  lessee,  provided  however,  that  nothing
herein  shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a firearm
within five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a
crossbow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a
farm building or farm structure actually occupied or used, or  a  school
building or playground, public structure, or occupied factory or church;

provided  further,  that  a  nuisance  wildlife specialist with a permit
issued pursuant to section 11-0522 of this article acting in furtherance
of the site specific deer management plan may discharge a firearm within
five  hundred  feet  of  any  dwelling  houses,  structures,  schools or
playgrounds, provided that the  owners  or  lessees  thereof  have  been
notified  by certified mail of the date or dates, and time period of the
expected activity, and discharge a firearm within two hundred fifty feet
of such dwelling houses, structures,  schools  or  playgrounds  provided
that  all  the  owners or lessees thereof have provided written consent;
provided further, that a nuisance  wildlife  specialist  with  a  permit
issued   pursuant  to  section  11-0522-a  of  this  article  acting  in
furtherance of the site-specific deer management plan  may  discharge  a
firearm  within  five  hundred  feet of any dwelling houses, structures,
schools or playgrounds, provided that the owners or lessees thereof have
been notified by certified mail of the date or dates and time period  of
the  expected activity, and discharge a firearm within two hundred fifty
feet  of  such  dwelling  houses,  structures,  schools  or  playgrounds
provided  that  all  the owners or lessees thereof have provided written
consent;
* NB Effective until January 1, 2027
* (1) The owner or lessee of the dwelling house,  or  members  of  his
immediate  family  actually residing therein, or a person in his employ,
or the guest of the owner or lessee of the dwelling  house  acting  with
the  consent  of  said  owner  or lessee, provided however, that nothing
herein shall be deemed to authorize such persons to discharge a  firearm
within five hundred feet, a long bow within one hundred fifty feet, or a
crossbow within two hundred fifty feet of any other dwelling house, or a
farm  building  or farm structure actually occupied or used, or a school
building or playground, public structure, or occupied factory or church;
* NB Effective January 1, 2027
(2) Programs conducted by  public  schools  offering  instruction  and
training in the use of firearms or long bow;
(3)  The  authorized  use of a pistol, rifle or target range regularly
operated and maintained by a police department or other law  enforcement
agency or by any duly organized membership corporation;
(4)  The  discharge  of  a  shotgun  over  water  by  a person hunting
migratory game birds  if  no  dwelling  house,  farm  building  or  farm
structure actually occupied or used, school building, school playground,
or  public structure, factory or church, livestock or person is situated
in the line of discharge less than five hundred feet from the  point  of
discharge.
5.  a.  No  person  shall use a rifle for hunting on Long Island or in
Westchester County. If a  person  be  found  carrying  a  rifle  in  the
woodlands  on  Long  Island or in Westchester County, that fact shall be
presumptive evidence that he is illegally using it for hunting  in  that
area;  but  this provision does not apply to members of a duly organized
target shooting club carrying unloaded rifles to  and  from  the  target
range.
b.  In  the  counties,  or parts of counties, where the use of a rifle
other than a muzzle loading firearm is not permitted in  the  taking  of
deer,  a  person afield shall not possess a rifle larger than twenty-two
caliber rim-fire other than a muzzle loading  firearm  during  the  open
season for deer.
c.  In  the Northern Zone no person, while engaged in hunting with the
aid of a dog or while afield accompanied by a dog, shall possess a rifle
larger than .22 caliber using rim-fire ammunition or possess  a  shotgun
loaded  with  a  slug, ball or buckshot, or possess a crossbow; but this
paragraph does not apply to persons, engaged in coyote hunts  with  dogs

during any open season on coyotes established pursuant to the provisions
of section 11-0903 of this title.
6.  No  person  while  engaged  in  hunting deer or bear pursuant to a
bowhunting privilege, and no person accompanying him or her or a  member
of  his  or  her  party,  while he or she is so engaged during a special
longbow season, shall have in his or her possession  a  firearm  of  any
kind,  and no person while engaged in hunting deer or bear pursuant to a
muzzle-loading privilege, and no person accompanying him  or  her  or  a
member  of  his  or  her  party,  while he or she is so engaged during a
special  muzzle-loading  firearm  season,  shall  have  in  his  or  her
possession a firearm of any kind other than a muzzle-loading firearm.
7.  During any open season for deer, a person afield shall not possess
shotgun shells loaded with a slug  or  ball  unless  he  holds  a  valid
license or permit to take deer or bear.