Environmental Conservation Law § 11-0931. Prohibitions on the use and possession of firearms.
1. No person except a law enforcement officer in the performance of
his official duties shall use in hunting or possess in the fields or
forests or on the waters of the state for any purpose:
a. the apparatus known as a silencer;
b. any automatic firearm, or any firearm which has been converted to
an automatic type, or any firearm which has a built-in mechanical
adjustment which will permit it to function as an automatic arm; or
c. any auto-loading firearm of a construction to contain more than six
shells in the magazine and chamber combined, except
(1) such a firearm using twenty-two caliber rim-fire ammunition, or
(2) such a firearm which has been altered so as to reduce its capacity
to not more than six shells at one time in the magazine and chamber
combined, or
(3) an auto-loading pistol having a barrel less than eight inches in
length.
d. An automatic firearm is defined as one which will continue to fire
as long as the trigger is held back. An auto-loading firearm is defined
as one which reloads itself after each shot and requires that the
trigger be pulled back for each shot.
2. No firearm except a pistol or revolver shall be carried or
possessed in or on a motor vehicle unless it is unloaded in both the
chamber and the magazine, except that a loaded firearm which may be
legally used for taking migratory game birds may be carried or possessed
in a motorboat while being legally used in hunting migratory game birds,
and no person except a law enforcement officer in the performance of his
official duties shall, while in or on a motor vehicle, use a jacklight,
spotlight or other artificial light upon lands inhabited by deer if he
is in possession or is accompanied by a person who is in possession, at
the time of such use, of a longbow, crossbow or a firearm of any kind
except a pistol or revolver, unless such longbow is unstrung or such
firearm is taken down or securely fastened in a case or locked in the
trunk of the vehicle. For purposes of this subdivision, motor vehicle
shall mean every vehicle or other device operated by any power other
than muscle power, and which shall include but not be limited to
automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, tractors, trailers and motorboats,
snowmobiles and snowtravelers, whether operated on or off public
highways. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the
department may issue a permit to any person who is non-ambulatory,
except with the use of a mechanized aid, to possess a loaded firearm in
or on a motor vehicle as defined in this section, subject to such
restrictions as the department may deem necessary in the interest of
public safety, and for a fee of five dollars. Nothing in this section
permits the possession of a pistol or a revolver contrary to the penal
law.
BTW, a rifle or shotgun that is LEANING on a vehicle is considered to be IN or ON and is therefore illegal. For instance, you're hunting and have your truck parked in a field, you come back for lunch and drop the tailgate for a place to sit. If your gun is touching your vehicle and loaded you COULD be ticketed.
