Gun license in Queens
One set of citywide rules — and a borough big enough that the real question is when you'll find 18 hours.
A Queens gun license application follows the same citywide NYPD rules as every other borough — the requirements do not change from neighborhood to neighborhood. The Queens-specific part is logistics, not law. Queens is the largest borough by area and one of the most spread out, so the 18 hours of required training — 16 classroom hours plus 2 hours of live-fire — is often the piece that decides an applicant's calendar. The rule cares that a state-approved instructor taught you and that your certificate is dated within six months of filing. It does not care how far you travelled to sit in the room.
The 18 hours are a scheduling problem, not a legal one
Queens runs on shift work. Airport schedules, hospital rotations, contractors, drivers, restaurant hours, small businesses that don't close — a meaningful share of the people who ask us about licensing here do not have a normal Monday-to-Friday to plan around. The training requirement doesn't bend for that. Sixteen hours of classroom instruction plus two hours of live-fire, with a written test passed at 80 percent or higher, is the same number of hours whether you find them across two weekends or six weeknights.
So pick your instructor on their calendar and their state approval, not on the map. There is no borough requirement attached to training, and the classroom hours and the live-fire portion frequently happen in different places anyway — a range is a range regardless of which side of the borough line it sits on. Ask what a course actually costs, ask when they can seat you, and ask how the live-fire session gets scheduled, because that is usually the piece with the least flexibility.
Then mind the clock on the certificate. It has to be dated within six months of when you file, which means training is the last thing you line up, not the first. The rules, with sources:
New York's Concealed Carry Improvement Act requires 18 hours of training — 16 hours of classroom instruction plus 2 hours of live-fire — with a state-approved instructor, and a written test passed at 80% or higher.
Set by New York State (CCIA) · DCJS · source · we last checked 2026-07-14
Your training certificate must be dated within 6 months of when you file.
Set by New York State (CCIA) · source · we last checked 2026-07-14
Four character references are required, and they must be notarized.
Set by 38 RCNY Chapter 5 · source · we last checked 2026-07-14
Roughly six months is typical from a complete submission to the decision letter, covering the interview, fingerprinting, the FBI background check, and the character investigation.
Set by NYPD License Division · source · we last checked 2026-07-14
Is there a different gun license process for Queens?+
No. The NYPD License Division licenses handguns centrally for the whole city, and the requirements are identical in Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Same training hours, same references, same disclosures, same investigation, same standard. Nothing about a Queens address changes the rule you are held to.
Do I have to take the training course in Queens?+
The rule is that your 18 hours — 16 hours of classroom plus 2 hours of live-fire — are completed with a state-approved instructor, and it says nothing about which borough that instructor teaches in. Choose on schedule and approval, not on proximity. Many Queens applicants find the classroom hours and the live-fire session are not even in the same place.
Can I do the 18 hours on weekends?+
Instructors set their own schedules, so it depends entirely on the instructor you pick. That is exactly why it's worth asking about the calendar before you pay. Sixteen classroom hours plus a live-fire session is a real commitment on top of a working week, and 'when can you actually seat me' is a fair first question.
I work long hours. What should I line up first?+
Not the training. Your certificate has to be dated within six months of when you file, so taking the course first and then spending months on paperwork can push it out of date. Start with the parts that depend on other people — the four notarized references and the affidavits from the adults in your home — and slot the 18 hours in as the file comes together.
Before you book 18 hours, find out where you stand. It takes a few minutes.
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