Rejection rate for concealed carry gun permits on Long Island less than 3%

Long Islanders seeking a permit to carry a concealed handgun rarely are rejected, according to a Newsday review more than two years after a landmark legal decision led to a major expansion of gun rights.

On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a century-old New York State law requiring a judge to determine if an applicant had a legitimate need to carry a concealed pistol or revolver outside the home.

The ruling, which found the law prevented "law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms," led to thousands of applications for concealed carry permits on Long Island.

Figures Newsday obtained from the Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County Sheriff's Office show that since the ruling, the three law enforcement agencies in charge of the process have approved 17,162 concealed carry gun permits.

The approvals included new applications and upgrades to permits that allow people to keep a handgun in their homes, businesses or in some cases, to take their weapon to a gun range or hunting.

Data shows that as applications surged, less than 3% of all Long Islanders, mostly in Suffolk, who sought a concealed carry permit were turned down. 

Dan Feldman, a professor who teaches subjects including ethics and accountability at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said statistically it's likely that at least a handful of the more than 17,000 new concealed carry gun permit holders on Long Island shouldn't have made it through the background process successfully.

But the bigger concern, Feldman said, is that even law-abiding citizens without criminal records and with the proper training can make mistakes in the heat of the moment or be prone to violence and use their concealed handguns in a dangerous manner.

"It's just not possible to establish criteria that is going to give anyone true assurance that these guns are not going to be used in violent episodes," said Feldman, a former Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn. "That's just not plausible ... Even with the best of intentions and the best efforts, you still can't be assured by the process."

Others disagree. 

Frank Melloni, owner of Renaissance Firearms Instruction in Uniondale, said the increase in concealed carry permits shouldn't cause alarm.

"The bad people have been [carrying concealed firearms] for decades," Melloni said. "All the law did was permit the good people to do so now too."

Melloni said his business was flooded with inquiries from people seeking training ahead of their applications shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court decision, but interest recently leveled out.

Few denials 

The Suffolk County Police Department has approved almost 96% of the 9,608 concealed carry applications — a total of 9,209 approvals — submitted to the agency since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, according to department data.

Unlike the two other Long Island law enforcement agencies that handle approvals, Suffolk police require applicants to hold a "dwelling" permit — allowing someone to keep a handgun at home — before obtaining a concealed carry permit. 

Since the top court's ruling, the Nassau County Police Department has approved 6,224 concealed carry permits, department data shows. Those numbers include 2,088 new concealed carry permits and 4,136 "target" permits — allowing someone to bring a handgun to a gun range — that were upgraded to concealed carry permits.

The department has denied four new concealed carry permit applications since mid-2022, according to spokesman Det. Lt. Scott Skrynecki. He said figures weren't available on how many individuals seeking to upgrade from a target permit to a concealed carry permit were rejected.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, which handles concealed carry permits for the county’s five East End towns, issued 1,729 of the permits since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, according to agency figures.

The permits include 353 new applications and 1,455 applications upgraded from permits that allow residents to keep handguns in their homes, businesses or to carry the weapons to a gun range or a location where hunting is permitted. The office denies 15 to 20 concealed carry gun permit applications annually, said spokeswoman Vicki DiStefano.

"Our applicants are thoroughly informed of the investigation and requirements for securing their license. Generally, if someone has something in their background that will preclude them from being accepted, they do not follow through with submitting the application," DiStefano said of the rejection rate.

Nassau and Suffolk police didn't respond to questions about their rejection rates.

Law enforcement officials from the three agencies that handle permits said the precise number of individuals who held a concealed carry permit before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling wasn't available, although they said the number was extremely small and generally limited to retired law enforcement and armed security guards.

Matt Seifer, founder and owner of Guardian Security Investigation & Training in Deer Park, which trains Long Islanders in gun safety and helps them apply for permits, said he’s been inundated with so many people seeking training for concealed carry permits that he's now building an indoor firearms range on the premises.

"It's exploded 1,000% in the number of applications we are doing on a daily and weekly basis," Seifer said of working with concealed carry permit applicants. " ... Civilians are doing it the right way. They are following the protocols."

But Rebecca Fischer, executive director of Manhattan-based New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, said people carrying concealed weapons can lead to tragedies. 

"Research shows that the more people that are permitted to walk around with concealed, hidden, loaded guns, the more likely there could be harm done to others," she said. "And we want to avoid that."

'It's very serious'

Applicants seeking a concealed carry permit must fill out an application, provide four character witnesses, submit to fingerprinting for a criminal-background check and provide proof they've received the required 18 hours of firearms training.

Law enforcement officials can deny permit applications for a number of reasons, including if someone lies on the application, is the subject of a protective order, has a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction for weapons possession, menacing or drunken driving, or if that person has spent time recently in a drug treatment facility.

Long Island law enforcement agencies said concealed carry permit applicants must have at least a part-time residency in the county in which they are seeking a permit.

James Orsetti, 29, an engineer from Northport, said he was so concerned about recent car thefts, break-ins and vandalism in his community that he recently submitted his concealed carry permit application. His father and brother are planning to follow suit.

"We live in Northport, a very quiet, nothing happening town and it's starting to get a little too close for comfort," Orsetti said. "So I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Jason Birnhak, 54, a chiropractor from Dix Hills, obtained his concealed carry permit shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, while his sons, Michael, 23, and Matt, 21, are in the process of obtaining their permits.

"For me, it's safety, safety, safety," said Birnhak, who added that he obtained a concealed carry permit as a precautionary measure to protect himself and his family. " ... When you have a gun in your hand, it's like having a bomb in your hand. It's very serious."

State law implemented after the high court's ruling mandates 16 hours of training for concealed carry permit applicants and two hours of supervised "live fire" training at a shooting range. Birnhak said he supplemented his training with a 47-hour armed guard training class. 

"With what's happening in the world today, there's danger everywhere," said Birnhak, who carries his pistol to his office and to any other location that he's legally allowed. "I wanted to feel a little more comfortable when I am traveling around."

Seifer said a rise in vigilantism that some gun control advocates feared after a change in the law hasn't materialized.

"When you take a class like mine, we give you every reason not to use the gun," he said. "We're giving you every reason to verbally de-escalate the situation or to walk away from it."

Police 'can't be everywhere'

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, New York's Democratic-controlled State Legislature passed a bill increasing the training requirements for concealed carry permit applicants while placing tighter requirements on the "safe storage" of weapons. 

Experts said the application process typically takes six to eight months once an applicant has an in-person interview with police, which is among the requirements.

A federal appeals court in December struck down a requirement that concealed carry applicants disclose social media accounts used during the past three years.

Then in February, State Supreme Court Justice James McCormack barred the Nassau Police Department from demanding that applicants undergo urine testing to check for illegal drug use. Citing the federal decision, McCormack also wrote that an application couldn't be denied for refusal to provide social media account information. Nassau officials didn't appeal the ruling, court records show. 

Those with concealed carry gun permits cannot carry their weapons at New York's airports, schools, hospitals, places of worship, street fairs, playgrounds, public protests, museums, casinos, day care centers, mental health facilities, polling places, entertainment venues or on public transit, according to state law. 

Angelo Veltri, president of Save Long Island, a Shoreham-based group established in part with the aim of expanding Second Amendment rights, said the concealed carry permitting process is too cumbersome.

"When it comes to the Second Amendment, people always think it's going to become the Wild Wild West, which it absolutely never does," Veltri said. "People were just saying that there was going to be clashes between protesters at certain events, and it's going to turn into an all-out shooting match. But these things just didn't happen."

Steven Karp, 66, of Huntington Station, who installs window shades and draperies for a living, said he recently submitted his concealed carry permit application to Suffolk police.

"Truthfully, I don't know if I'll ever carry it," Karp said of a concealed weapon. "I have the utmost respect for the police. But they can't be everywhere."

But Fischer, from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, worries the current political climate is a powder keg waiting to explode — particularly in the wake of the second apparent attempt on former President Donald Trump's life — and that concealed firearms could light the match.

"More guns in public will lead to more gun violence," she said. "This is a public health crisis and it does not discriminate. It does not matter whether you're a Democrat or Republican, a civilian or a former president of the United States."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.