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Apparently the NY law requires an unusual or atypical self defense need, and give the granting officer complete discretion to determine whether that's been met.
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I think this is
almost correct. While I don't know for certain, I believe that the actual statute law does not require unusual or atypical need, i believe it just specifies a need, and it is the issuing agents that determine what need qualifies and I'm CERTAIN many if not nearly all will only accept a need that you or I would consider unusual or atypical.
I base this opinion on personal experience, having grown up in NY state and obtained a pistol permit there in 1975. At age 18!
I don't think very many readers here really understand what a NY pistol permit requires, but then, neither do many New Yorkers.
I left NY "officially" in 1979, so I cannot and willnot speak to the exact state of the law as it exists today. I am going to share what I know for a fact to have been the requirements in 1975 and allow the reader to draw their own conclusions about if current NY law is more lax or more strict than it was then,
In 1975, a permit was required to POSESS any handgun in public or in your home. The permit allowed possession and OPEN carry where otherwise legal. The Permit issued anywhere in the state other than New York City was NOT VALID in New York City.
"Everyone knew" there was no concealed permit for "ordinary folk". Since I wasn't interested in concealed carry at that time I don't know the specific requirements but it was general knowledge that one needed a special reason in order to be approved, IF such a thing was even possible.
The permit to possess application required 5 (five) sets of fingerprints, 4 (four) photographs (passport type), and 3 (three) character references (citizens in good standing in the community and who could not be members of your family or extended family). And the fee, (at the time, it wss something like $20 I'm sure today its much higher)
You were investigated by the County Sherriff, (at the least I don't know who else but we were told one set of prints went to the FBI..)
and THEN it would go before a judge to be approved or denied. And the judge had complete and unquestioned authority and could give any reason, or none, for his decision.
There was a space on the application for the reason for applying. What you put in that box was critical to getting your permit or being denied. You had to know what the judge wanted to see. For example, the judge in Saratoga county would only approve a permit if it was for "Hunting and Sporting purposes". He would not approve any application that gave "self defense" as the reason for applying. The judge in Albany county would only approve applications listing self defense and would deny everything else.
Entirely up to each individual judge what he would approve or deny.
The physical permit was wallet size paper (not even thin cardstock like the NY driver's license) non laminated, with your picture stapled to the front and the state seal embossed over part of the picture. Thumbprint on the back. Also on the back were those handguns you were permitted to possess, listed by maker, caliber, barrel length, and serial number. Every pistol you possesed was listed on the permit, and you could not possess a handgun that was NOT listed on the permit.
I mention I got my permit at age 18. This ALSO was entirely up to each individual judge. State law did not specify any minimum age, for a possession permit. And I think there was a good and valid reason for that, learning that reason was why I applied at age 18 and so did my younger brother when he turned 18.
We learned the the reason due to a car wreck my family was in about 1970, 4 car collision. Fatalities were involved though we got through with only relatively minor injuries. However that led to us looking at a lot of things, and we discovered that had my father died, his pistols would have to have been surrendered to the authorities. Dad was an NRA rifle. pistol and hunter safety instructor and at the time had 6 handguns, more than anyone else around in our circle of friends at the time.
Anyway what we learned was that if no one else in the house had a permit, that listed Dad's pistols on it, then they would have to be surrendered. If we turned them over to the State Police, they would keep them 30 days then destroy them. (or so they told us) If we turned them in to the Sherriff, AND applied for a permit, they would keep them until the permit was approved or denied.
So Mom applied for her permit right away, and was granted, listing all Dad's pistols on it. My brother and I did likelwise when we turned 18, because we had learned the the judge in our county looked at each individual case under 21, and decided it its merit, rather than just having a blanket policy.
Now, here we have a case of the judge being the only authority deciding the conditions for issue to have worked in our favor. This is the (unfortunately rare) upside to sole discretionary authority. Its not a 100% bad thing, but sadly its more like a 98-99% bad thing due to the individuals and their beliefs involved.
Look carefully at any "shall issue" statues, and see if they are set in stone or not. its likely that the ones that are very ridgid not only prevent a baseless ruling against you but also prevent the judge from giving you any kind of break in your favor. Particularly regarding age limits.
Also, the NY state permit I got was valid FOR LIFE, unless revoked by a judge. There was no "reapply every X years".
I understand that has since been changed. I don't know what else has, but I'm sure its more than just the fee.
and, just FYI, New York never forgets. They may be decades remembering, but they never forget. I moved out of NY state in 1979. In 2002, Saratoga country sent me a letter informing me that since I was no longer a resident of NY state, my permit was no longer valid. And, they wanted it BACK!!!
Yes, that's right, they wanted the non-laminated wallet paper they issued 27 years earlier, returned!!! And, they also wanted to know the location of the guns listed on it. (my Dad's pistols, which I had not seen in decades).
My response would not pass TFL filters, but you can imagine..something on the order of go pound sand,.. but more vulgar
There more involved, but this is already long enough, I just wanted everyone to realize what honest, law abiding ordinary people had to go through to get a permit just to own and possess a handgun in New York state what is now 46 years ago. Think its any easier today? My bet is that it isn't.
so, now we have the US SUPREME COURT looking at the NY system, mostly likely only with a laser beam narrow focus, but perhaps they'll look just a bit wider and who knows, at this point what they will decide?