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Where You Can't Carry in NY

Quick GlanceEvery place in New York State where carrying is banned, what the courts have changed, and who may carry in a shul. Status as of 11/08/2026.

Last checked 11/08/2026 · 11 sections

Your New York carry license does not let you carry everywhere. This guide lists every place where carrying is banned across New York State, what the courts have changed, and the special rule for shuls.

At a GlanceThe crime Carrying in a "sensitive location" is a Class E felony in New York, even with a carry license. You can also lose your license.🚫 Still banned Schools, government buildings, health care, public parks, zoos, transit, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, theaters, stadiums, wedding and banquet halls, protests, polling places, Times Square.⚠️ Shuls Banned, except for people the shul has made responsible for its security.✅ Stores Businesses open to the public are allowed, unless the owner says no by a sign or in person.🏠 Homes Someone else's home or private property that is not open to the public: only with the owner's OK.✈️ Airports Past the TSA checkpoint is banned by federal law. Before security, a 09/30/2026 court order limits the State ban (see below).
🚫 Banned⚠️ Depends✅ Allowed

Statewide guide. Carrying in New York City? Also see our Sensitive Locations in New York (NYC) page. Court cases: our 2A Lawsuit Tracker.

The Basics

New York has two location laws for gun owners, both from the 2022 Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA):

  • Sensitive locations (Penal Law § 265.01-e): a list of 20 kinds of places where nobody may carry, license or not, unless they are in an exempt group.

  • Restricted locations (Penal Law § 265.01-d): the private-property rule, often called the "vampire rule." Courts have cut this one back a lot. See Private Property.

The Law

Carrying in a sensitive location is a Class E felony when you "know or reasonably should know" it is a sensitive location. Not seeing a sign is not a defense for places on the list.

Who Is Exempt

  • Police officers, peace officers, and retired New York police officers.

  • Federal and retired officers carrying under LEOSA (18 U.S.C. 926B / 926C).

  • Armed security guards with a special armed registration card, at their job, during work hours.

  • Active-duty military.

  • Licensed hunters while hunting, and people at lawful training, marksmanship practice or competitions.

The full list of exemptions is in the law itself. A regular carry license is not an exemption.

Place by Place

Each place below is listed in New York's sensitive-locations law unless we say otherwise. Status is as of 11/08/2026.

Government and Federal

  • Government buildingsBannedCourts, town and village halls, DMV, police stations, any place the government uses for its work.
  • Federal buildingsBannedSocial Security, IRS and other federal offices and courts. Federal law. See Federal Places.
  • Post officesBannedIncluding the parking lot. Federal rule.
  • Polling placesBannedWhile the place is being used for voting.

Schools, Kids and Care

  • Schools, yeshivas, colleges and universitiesBannedThe buildings and the grounds (including parking lots), and school buses.
  • Nursery schools, preschools, day care, summer campsBannedPlus any program for children licensed or funded by the State's children's services office.
  • Hospitals, doctors' offices, clinicsBannedAny place that gives health care, mental health care or addiction treatment.
  • Shelters and State-run programsBannedHomeless, family, youth and domestic violence shelters; Health Department residential settings; State mental health, disability, addiction and assistance program sites.

Worship

Parks and Public Places

Food, Simchas and Entertainment

Getting Around

Private Property

* Allowed means not banned by the location laws. You still need a valid license, and the owner can still say no.

Shuls and Places of Worship

The Law

Carrying in "any place of worship" is banned, "except for those persons responsible for security at such place of worship." This wording has been in force since 05/03/2023.

Who May Carry in a Shul

  • Only people the shul has made responsible for its security. The federal appeals court explained in 10/2024 that a place of worship can "freely designate" its own leader and its security team as the people responsible for security. Those people are then outside the ban.

  • Everyone else may not carry in the shul, even with a carry license.

  • You still need a valid carry license. The security exception only lifts the place-of-worship ban. In New York City you need the NYC license.

  • A licensed armed security guard (with a special armed registration card) working at the shul is separately allowed during work hours.

How to Show You Are on Security

The law does not say what paperwork is needed. Get it in writing anyway. An email or a letter on the shul's letterhead, signed by the Rav, the president or the executive director, saying that you are responsible for security at the shul. We have a sample letter you can download on our Sensitive Locations (NYC) page.

Gray Area

  • A shul building with a school, yeshiva, preschool or day care inside. The school and child-care bans have no security-team exception. ⚠️ Ask an attorney before you carry there.

  • A simcha in the shul's hall. Banquet halls are on the list. We found no ruling on a shul hall used for a simcha.

  • Outside the shul. A gathering on the street, a parade or a protest can be its own sensitive location.

⚠️ Do your own research and speak to an attorney.

One church in a past case (Spencer) has its own court order. It does not apply to anyone else.

Private Property (the "Vampire Rule")

The "vampire rule" made it a felony to carry onto any private property unless the owner put up a sign allowing guns or told you yes. Here is exactly what the courts did:

When the Owner Says No

  • An owner can still ban guns, by a sign or by telling you. Respect it. If you are told to leave and you stay, you can be charged with trespass.

  • A business that is also a sensitive location (a bar, a theater, a doctor's office) is banned no matter what the owner says.

The State offers an "Allow Firearms" sign that owners can post.

Transit, Airports and Your Car

Public Transit

  • Subways, trains, buses, ferries, train and subway stations and bus terminals are all on the list. The federal appeals court found the NYC subway and Metro-North bans likely constitutional (09/19/2025).

  • Taxis and Uber/Lyft are not named in the law. ⚠️ It is a gray area: ask an attorney.

Airports

  • Past security and on the plane: banned by federal law.

  • Before security (the public areas): on 09/30/2026 a federal judge permanently blocked the State's airport ban. The order covers the State Police and a few upstate officials who were sued (in Onondaga County, Syracuse and Albany County). It does not name the NYPD, the Port Authority Police or other counties' District Attorneys, and the State can still appeal.

  • Flying with your gun: the State Police told the court that the ban does not stop a ticketed passenger with a New York license from checking an unloaded gun in a locked, hard-sided case under federal rules. See our travel guide.

Your Car

  • Leaving the gun in the car? It must be unloaded and locked in a safe or locked box, out of sight. The glove box does not count.

  • School grounds include the parking lot, so driving onto school property with your gun is banned.

Federal Places

Federal law applies in New York too, no matter what the State allows:

  • Federal buildingsBannedAny building where federal employees work: Social Security, IRS, federal courts.
  • Post officesBannedInside and on postal property, including the parking lot.
  • VA hospitals and clinicsBannedOn VA property.
  • Army Corps of Engineers landsBannedLoaded guns are banned at most Corps lakes and dams.
  • Streets near a school (the 1,000-foot zone)Allowed with a NY licenseThe federal school-zone law exempts people licensed by New York. You still may not go on school grounds.

Recent Court Rulings

Recent Court Rulings
  1. 12/08/2023 Federal appeals court (Antonyuk v. Chiumento): most of the 2022 court orders that blocked the sensitive-places list were undone. Kept: the private-property rule blocked for property open to the public.
  2. 10/24/2024 After the Supreme Court sent it back, the appeals court reached the same result (Antonyuk v. James). Shuls: the security team can be designated by the shul.
  3. 04/07/2025 The Supreme Court declined to hear Antonyuk.
  4. 09/19/2025 Times Square, NYC subway and Metro-North bans: likely constitutional (Frey v. City of New York).
  5. 05/18/2026 Christian v. James: the private-property rule is unconstitutional for property open to the public. The public-parks ban was upheld.
  6. 06/25/2026 U.S. Supreme Court, Wolford v. Lopez: Hawaii's private-property rule (same as New York's) struck down, 6–3.
  7. 09/30/2026 Federal judge in Syracuse (Antonyuk v. James): the airport ban permanently blocked for the State Police and the officials sued. Challenges to the parks, bars, theaters and zoos bans were dismissed. Judgment entered 11/03/2026.

Still pending: an appeal in Antonyuk (filed 10/29/2026); a Supreme Court petition on the parks ban (Christian v. James, New York's response due 12/03/2026); a Times Square case (Goldberger v. James).

Follow every case on our 2A Lawsuit Tracker

New York City

  • You need an NYC license to carry in New York City. A license from another New York county is not valid in the city.

  • Times Square is its own sensitive location. The zone runs roughly from 40th to 53rd Street, between Sixth and Ninth Avenues, and is marked by signs.

  • All the statewide rules on this page apply in the city too.

Sensitive Locations in New York (NYC)Times Square, the shul letter sample, and NYC notes

From the 2A613 Team's Experience

From the 2A613 Team's Experience

  • Assume a place is off-limits until you have checked. When in doubt, leave the gun home.

  • Plan your day. A simcha, a doctor's visit, a museum trip or a stop at the post office can all be banned places. Know before you leave the house.

  • Keep a lock box in the car for when you must go somewhere you can't carry, and follow the car storage rule.

  • Shul security: get your designation in writing, an email or a signed letter on the shul's letterhead.

  • Look for signs at private businesses, and respect them.

  • The rules keep changing. Check this page and our Lawsuit Tracker before you rely on anything.

Being caught in a sensitive location is a felony. You can also lose your license and your guns, plus legal fees. זה לא כדאי.

Gray Areas: Do Your Own Research

  • Taxis, Uber and Lyft.

  • A shul building that also houses a school, yeshiva or preschool.

  • A simcha in a shul hall or a rented hall.

  • Airports outside the areas the 09/30/2026 court order covers.

  • Your car parked on the grounds of a sensitive location.

  • Rural parks: the appeals court only ruled on parks in general (its example was city parks).

Gray Area

Courts are still deciding several of these rules, and the answer can change at any time. ⚠️ Do your own research, check the official sources below, and speak to an attorney before you carry somewhere you are not sure about.

This page is general information, not legal advice.

Need an attorney? See our attorney page

Sources

Checked 11/08/2026. Court opinions are the official copies (govinfo.gov, the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court).

⁠New to the terms? See the 2A Glossary.

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Last updated: 11/08/2026 · כ״ח חשון תשפ״ז

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