Domestic Violence Charges and Gun Rights in New York

While the Case Is Pending: CPL § 530.14

The court issues a temporary order of protection at the arraignment. Under CPL § 530.14, when that order issues the court must suspend any firearms license, declare the accused ineligible for one, and order the immediate surrender of all firearms if it has good cause to believe that the accused:

• has a prior conviction for a violent felony offense,
• has previously willfully failed to obey an order of protection, where the failure involved physical injury, the use or threatened use of a weapon, or other violent conduct, or
• has a prior conviction for stalking.

Even when none of those findings applies, the court may order suspension and surrender whenever it finds a substantial risk that the accused may use or threaten to use a firearm unlawfully against the protected person. In practice judges ask about firearms at almost every domestic violence arraignment, and an allegation that a gun was displayed or mentioned is usually enough. Family Court has a parallel power under Family Court Act § 842-a, so the same result can follow from a family-offense petition even if no criminal case is filed.

Your License and the Licensing Officer

Separately from the court, the licensing officer can suspend or revoke a license under PL § 400.00(11). In New York City that is the NYPD License Division, and it suspends on a domestic violence arrest as a matter of routine. The suspension does not end automatically when the criminal case does. A dismissal helps, but the License Division conducts its own review of the underlying incident, and it looks at the arrest, the domestic incident reports, and any order of protection history. We handle that review together with the criminal case, because what is said in one is read in the other. See license revocation defense.

Surrender should be arranged through counsel. Firearms are turned over to the police, unloaded and cased, at a time arranged in advance, and you should leave with a receipt that lists every item by make, model, and serial number. Options for transferring firearms to a third party instead are limited and depend on the terms of the court's order. Keeping a gun at a relative's home, where you still have access to it, is not compliance. It is possession, and it can lead to new weapons charges and a contempt charge.

The Federal Order-of-Protection Ban: 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)

Federal law makes it a felony to possess a firearm or ammunition while subject to a qualifying order of protection. An order qualifies when:

• it was issued after a hearing of which the person received actual notice and at which the person had an opportunity to participate,
• it restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or a child of the intimate partner or of the person, and
• it either includes a finding that the person is a credible threat to the physical safety of the partner or child, or by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force.

New York orders of protection typically direct the accused to refrain from assault, harassment, and other offenses against the protected person, and prosecutors treat that language as meeting the third requirement. In United States v. Rahimi (2024), the Supreme Court upheld § 922(g)(8) against a Second Amendment challenge. The ban lasts as long as the order does. It ends when the order expires or is vacated, which is one more reason the duration and terms of any final order are worth negotiating.

The Lifetime Ban: 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)

The Lautenberg Amendment prohibits firearm possession, for life, by anyone convicted of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence." Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33), that is a misdemeanor that has, as an element, the use or attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a current or former spouse, a parent or guardian, a person who lives or has lived with the complainant as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or a person who shares a child with the complainant. Since the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, it also covers a person in a current or recent dating relationship. For a single dating-partner conviction there is a limited path to restoration after five years. For every other relationship the ban is permanent.

Three Supreme Court decisions define how far the statute reaches:

• United States v. Hayes (2009). The domestic relationship does not have to be an element of the offense of conviction. A plea to ordinary assault in the third degree counts if the complainant was in fact a spouse or partner.
• United States v. Castleman (2014). The "physical force" element is satisfied by the common-law level of force, meaning offensive touching. Violent force is not required.
• Voisine v. United States (2016). A misdemeanor committed recklessly counts. The ban is not limited to intentional conduct.

New York builds the federal determination into its own procedure. Under CPL §§ 370.15 and 380.97, when a person is convicted of one of a list of misdemeanors, the court determines whether the domestic relationship exists and the conviction is reported to the federal background-check database.

Police Officers, Service Members, and Armed Professionals

Most federal firearm prohibitions have an exception for weapons issued for official government use. Section 922(g)(9) does not. A police officer, correction officer, federal agent, or service member with a qualifying misdemeanor conviction cannot lawfully carry a duty weapon, which in most cases ends the career. Armed security guards and others whose employment depends on a license face the same result through the state licensing rules. For these clients we do not evaluate a plea offer by the sentence. We evaluate it by whether the offense of conviction is a misdemeanor with a force element. Related licensing issues are covered on our professional license defense page.

New York Licensing Law

Apart from the federal bans, PL § 400.00(1) bars a license for anyone convicted of a felony or a "serious offense." The definition of serious offense in PL § 265.00(17) includes a list of misdemeanors when committed against a member of the same family or household. A person who is ineligible for a license cannot lawfully possess a handgun in New York at all, and the licensing schemes for rifles and shotguns in New York City and for semiautomatic rifles statewide apply similar standards. See also SAFE Act charges.

How the Disposition Decides the Outcome

The table below is a general guide. The exact statute and subdivision of conviction control, and every disposition should be checked against the client's license, employment, and federal exposure before it is accepted.

The difference between the third and fourth rows is often a single count on the same set of facts. That is what plea negotiation in these cases is about.

Possessing a Firearm While Prohibited

Possession in violation of § 922(g) is a federal felony, prosecuted separately from the underlying domestic case. In New York, possession after a surrender order or a license revocation also supports state weapons charges and a contempt charge for violating the order. The federal ban covers ammunition as well as firearms, and it applies to possession, not ownership. If you are unsure whether an old conviction or a current order makes you a prohibited person, get an answer before you touch a firearm.

Protect Your License Before You Plead

If you own firearms, hold a license, or carry a weapon for work and you have been arrested for a domestic violence offense in New York, call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected] before you accept any plea offer.