NYC Gun License Character References

An NYC gun-license application requires four character references, and each one must be notarized. That number and that formality come straight from 38 RCNY Chapter 5 (NYPD rules): four references, notarized. They are people who know you and are willing to attest, on the record and in front of a notary, that you are a person of good character. This guide covers who can serve, what "notarized" actually requires, and how to line them up early so they don't become the thing holding up your file.

What a character reference is — and isn't

A character reference is a named individual vouching for you. The License Division is trying to build a picture of your character from people who actually know you, so the value of a reference is in the knowing — someone who can speak to how long they've known you and in what capacity, not a signature from a stranger doing you a favor.

This is a different piece of the application from the cohabitant affidavits, which the adults in your household sign. A cohabitant attests because they live with you; a character reference attests because they know you and will speak to your character. You may need both, and they don't overlap — don't count a roommate's cohabitant affidavit toward your four references.

Because this is your application, you gather the references and submit them yourself. As the NYPD License Division sets out, you submit your own application, and only a New York-licensed attorney may represent an applicant before the License Division. No service files for you.

Who can serve as a reference

The rule fixes the number — four — and the notarization. The practical judgment is who. Aim for people who:

• Actually know you, and have for a while. A reference who can say "I've known the applicant for eleven years" carries more than one who met you last spring.
• Are adults of good standing themselves, reachable and willing to be contacted.
• Aren't all from one corner of your life. A mix — a longtime friend, a colleague, a neighbor, someone from a community or congregation — paints a fuller picture than four people from the same office.

A common instinct is to ask family. There's nothing that makes a relative categorically unusable, but references who aren't immediate family often read as more independent, so it's worth having non-relatives among your four. If you're unsure whether a particular person is a wise choice for your specific situation, that's a judgment call an attorney can weigh in on — see do I need a lawyer?.

The notarization requirement

Four references isn't the whole rule — notarized is the other half, and it's where applications stall. Each reference's statement has to be signed in front of a notary, who verifies the person's identity and witnesses the signature. An un-notarized reference letter, however glowing, isn't what the rule asks for.

New York permits remote online notarization, which is often the easiest path when your references are spread across different schedules or even different states. In an online notarization, the reference and a commissioned notary meet over a live audio-video session; the notary confirms identity on camera and notarizes electronically. A reference who lives out of state, or one who simply can't get to a notary during business hours, can usually handle it online in a few minutes. In-person notarization — at a bank, a shipping store, or via a mobile notary — is equally valid.

Whichever route each reference takes, the finished document has to be a properly notarized statement, not a casual letter. Collect the notarized originals and keep them together with the rest of your file.

How to line them up without a scramble

References are a classic bottleneck: easy to postpone, then suddenly the one piece you're waiting on. Front-load the work.

• Ask six people, not four. People move, get busy, or quietly decline. Lining up a couple of extras means one falling through doesn't reset your timeline.
• Ask early and ask plainly. Tell each person what you're requesting, that it needs to be notarized, and roughly when you need it back. Most people say yes readily; the delay is almost always logistics, not willingness.
• Point them to online notarization. For anyone who's busy or out of the area, remote online notarization removes the single biggest source of delay.
• Check each one when it comes back. Confirm it's actually notarized — notary stamp, signature, date — before you file it away. A reference that turns out not to have been notarized is a nasty surprise to discover at the end.
• Keep the originals together. Store the notarized references with your other application materials so nothing goes missing between collecting them and assembling the package.

If you're applying in Manhattan, our Manhattan gun license guide covers the local License Division picture; the four-references-notarized rule itself is the same across all five boroughs.

Where references fit in the bigger file

References are one requirement among several — training, cohabitant affidavits, the social-media list, safe photos, disclosures. Seeing how they slot together helps you sequence the whole thing instead of doing it piecemeal; our requirements overview lays out the full sourced checklist in one place.

One posture carries through all of it: this process rewards candor and completeness. Pick references who genuinely know you, get every one properly notarized, and gather a couple more than the minimum so a single fall-through never becomes the reason your file waits. Four notarized references, sourced to the rule that requires them, ready before the rest of your application is — that's the whole job.