Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool Photo via AP)
Donald Trump, who once famously bragged that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone” without losing supporters, will likely be barred from owning a gun at all in the Empire State he once called home.
According to a CNN report Wednesday, the New York City Police Department has begun the process of revoking Trump’s firearm permit. According to a senior NYPD official, the former president’s concealed carry license was suspended on April 1, 2023, following his indictment on criminal charges in New York, and two of Trump’s three pistols were turned over to the police the prior day. A third gun listed on Trump’s license “was lawfully moved to Florida,” according to the inside source.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a federal statute that makes it a crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm. New York state similarly prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms.
Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime or aid in said commission or concealment under New York Penal Law Section 175.10. The underlying event was a $130,000 hush-money payment made on the former president’s behalf by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer,” to adult content creator Stormy Daniels as so-called “hush money”
Under New York law, Trump could appeal any revocation of his gun license and have his arguments heard by a firearm license appeals officer.
Strict gun laws have been a conservative rallying point in recent years. In 2022, a divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York’s licensing regime and implemented a standard that required handgun restrictions to conform to “the Nation’s history and tradition” of weapons restrictions. The ruling has been sharply criticized by gun safety advocates who argue that it paves the way for a dangerous loosening of common-sense guidelines.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
