Comments on: How to Obtain a Pistol Permit in Erie County

By: Chris Bennett

Chris Bennett — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:56:06 +0000

Best course of action would be to call the Police department who will be interviewing both you, and those references. For the City of Buffalo, I believe that to be the Erie County Sheriff’s Department.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:27:07 +0000

I’m taking my safety course in 2 weeks and starting my application process. I reside in the city of Buffalo and plan on using mostly city residents as references. I am curious if anyone knows what is classified as a “relative”? I expect that means direct family members, but I would like to use my father-in-law. Any experience, and advice in this area would be appreciated.

By: STEVE B.

STEVE B. — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:20:41 +0000

I AM ORIGINALLY FROM THE SOUTH AND HAVE RESIDED I ERIE CO. FOR 16 YRS. I APPLIED IN EARLY 2009. TO SHORTEN THE STORY, I HAD A SETBACK AFTER 4 TO 6 MTHS IN WHICH A REFERENCE FAILED TO WRITER THEIR PHONE- SOMETHING I HADN’T NOTICES- & HAD TO START OVER W/ A NEW FORM AND REFERENCES. AFTER A YEAR I BEGAN TO INQUIRE AS TO THE PROGRESS OF MY APPLICATION. I OFTEN FOUND THE STAFF TO BE RUDE, CURT AND IMPATIENT BY PHONE. FINALLY AFTER 26 MTHS TOTAL, I WALKED OVER TO THE PERMIT OFFICE FROM MY PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT IN DOWNTOWN BUFFALO, PRACTICALLY DEMANDING THAT SOMEWHAT GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE STATUS OF MY PERMIT. AFTER SOME TIME I WAS CALLED BACK INTO THE JUDGES OFFICE. THE MAN WAS VERY NICE AND APOLOGIZED FOR THE LONG WAIT. THOUGH NEVER EXPLAINING THE REASON, HE HAD MY PERMIT PRINTED OUT RIGHT THERE. WHEW, I DON’ RECALL HEARING OF ANYONE ELSE HAVING HAD SUCH A LONG WAIT. MY IMPRESSION OVERALL IS THAT THEY ARE IN NO HURRY TO PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION.

By: RegularJoe

RegularJoe — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:53:24 +0000

Hi Peter- If you already have a restricted permit in Erie County, had it for over 10 years, law abiding, no tickets, etc., and you want to apply for an upgrade, to have the restrictions removed, what exactly should you put in for question 10 on the upgrade form, where it states

“That the following reasons are given to establish proper cause for issuing an unrestricted pistol license (attach separate sheet if necessary). You should note that a mere desire to have unrestricted or a generalized concern may not be Rproper cause~ under the law.” ?

What is “proper cause” under the law? Is that defined? What should I put there?

Thanks in advance!

By: Arr Bee

Arr Bee — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:26:40 +0000

I have been following this page for awhile and found all the info and comments very helpful.

Here is my timeline:
Applied for permit 04/15/2011
Recieved letter 05/15/2011 stating they forgot to have me sign a required form so I had to go and sign.
Contacted by local Police in 08/2011, had to go in for an interview and pay $$ to local PD for Pistol Permit investigation.
References contacted 09/2011.
Received pistol permit today 11/17/2011.

Now on the other end of the process, I feel it is largely a money making scam ($100+ for fingerprints? Really?) and it weeds out folks who may not be so serious about handgun ownership. It is a shame regular citizens have to go to such great lengths to exercise their 2nd amendment rights.

Id rather not disclose my locality, but for everyone still waiting good luck. And as another poster stated, support the NRA, it may be our only hope for keeping our rights safe.

Now what to buy?

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 04:26:49 +0000

Just curious-three of my four references live in the town I reside in. One is a C. O. Another is a fireman, the third is retired military I work with. I am also a federal employee. Passed three federal background checks in the last 2 1/2 years, including one for the USCG for renewal of my Merchant Mariner’s Master Captain’s license. I had an alcohol related conviction three years ago reduced to DWAI. Only a violation, with case disposition and got hired by the goverment and license renewed by USCG. I disclosed and provided necessary documentation. Will any of this help/hinder my approval?

By: MH

MH — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:40:45 +0000

Now 7 months months plus at WS police dept. and references have not yet been contacted. Officer there says they have 4X the normal amount of applications than normal to process, I’m in the cue, nothing to do but wait I guess.

By: D

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 01:20:03 +0000

I’m From chautauqua and i moved to Erie county 2 years ago. i dont know anyone to be references in Erie county (live in Evans). Does this matter? would i still be able to get one in chautauqua county if i “moved back to my parents house” Does this matter and if i transferred it Erie county after would i still have a unrestricted permit?

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:17:15 +0000

This is one of the reasons I do not want to come back to Buffalo. I’m in the Navy and am stationed in Virginia Beach. To purchase a handgun, the process is about a half hour for a background check. Virginia is “Open Carry” so I walked around with it showing until my CHP came back in 1 month. Extreme liberals are making protection difficult.

By: jon

jon — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:16:47 +0000

june first i was finger printed, the 2nd day in sept. sheiffs dept did a phone interview and contacted all 4 ref’s he said everything looks good. now how long till i get the letter hamburg, n.y

By: MH

MH — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:05:13 +0000

I called the Pistol Office after 6 months and they told me “call if you don’t have anything in 8 months”, so I called today after almost 8 months and was told they had sent everything to local police dept. in March! Contacted local PD and left a message, we’ll see if they ever call back.

By: greg

greg — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:13:39 +0000

MH ERIE County and CCW

By: MH

MH — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:24:11 +0000

3-1/2 months Greg? What county? I’m coming up on 7 months and no contact yet.

By: greg

greg — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:19:20 +0000

3 1/2 months and my letter arrived. Now what to get????

By: Peter Vasilion

Peter Vasilion — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:53:34 +0000

Those qualifications may not help, but they certainly won’t hurt either.

Depending on the County, the investigator may be interested to know that aspect of your background in order to form a recommendation to the judge or licensing officer. By law, the Court will only issue a permit to a person of “good moral character” for whom “no good cause exists for the denial of the license.” See, N.Y. Penal Law Section 400 (1) (b) and (g).

Good shooting,
Peter Vasilion, Esq.
http://www.pvasilionlaw.com

By: Kendra

Kendra — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:43:45 +0000

I am looking into getting my pistol permit. I would like to have my concealed license but other than doing a lot of travel in NY alone I have no other reason for it. I am in the military and have completed numerous courses online and in person to qualify me to carry a pistol. I was wondering if any of my military qualifications will transfer over to the civilian side?

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:13:03 +0000

Applied in Oct 2010, my references were contacted by the Amherst PD in May 2011. Still waiting for the letter…
I agree with MH, the process has changed slightly and the people at the Pistol Permit office were friendly and helpful.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 May 2011 01:13:27 +0000

It is just over 9 months and i was told 2 months ago that my permit was downtown at the police department. I had to file in Buffalo -concealed carry-. After reading an above notation i am happy i filed carry concealed because i dont want to have to register again. I have my father as a reference who got his permit in 3 weeks thanks to some connections. So its all political. Why didnt i get that little gift dad !

By: MH

MH — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:53:33 +0000

In researching before filing for my permit I found the above 22 steps to be very helpful, although in my experience (2-8-2011) the process has changed significantly, seems for the better though. Mainly fingerprints are done digitally by a 3rd party, and order of the steps is different. Also I would have visited the Pistol Permit office first and got advice from them on filling out the forms, they were very helpful and professional. Counting down now, its been interesting, will post when I have my letter.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:23:33 +0000

I applied for my pistol permit on Oct 18, 2010 and received it in the mail yesterday. Couple days over 3 months. Now comes the decision of what to BUY….