Sullivan Act

Sullivan Act
New York State Legislature
Full name	AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the sale and carrying of dangerous weapons
Senate voted	May 10, 1911
Signed into law	May 25, 1911
Sponsor(s)	Sen. Timothy Sullivan
Governor	John Alden Dix
Website	hdl.handle.net
Status: Partially struck down (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen)

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The Sullivan Act was a gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911.^[1][2] The NY state law requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Private possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, and carrying them in public is a felony. The law was the subject of controversy regarding both its selective enforcement^[3] and the licensing bribery schemes it enabled.^[4] The act was named for its primary legislative sponsor, state senator Timothy Sullivan, a Tammany Hall Democrat.

For handguns, the Sullivan Act qualifies as a may issue act, meaning the local police have discretion to issue a concealed carry license, as opposed to a shall issue act, in which state authorities must give a concealed handgun license to any person who satisfies specific criteria, often a background check and a safety class. According to a 2022 study, the law had no impact on overall homicide rates, reduced overall suicide rates, and caused large and sustained decrease in gun-related suicide rates.^[5]

The case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen was decided in the U.S. Supreme Court, evaluating the constitutionality of this law on Second Amendment grounds. Arguments were held in November of 2021, with the majority of the court striking down the "proper cause" requirement of the current law on June 23, 2022, for violating both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.^[6]