Penal Law § 265.61

Criminal sale of a ghost gun in the first degree · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 265.61 Criminal sale of a ghost gun in the first degree.

1. A person is guilty of criminal sale of a ghost gun in the first degree when, knowing or having reason to know they are ghost guns, he or she sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of ten or more ghost guns to another person or persons.

2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, a person shall not be guilty of criminal sale of a ghost gun in the first degree if he or she: (a) voluntarily surrenders such ghost guns to any law enforcement official designated pursuant to subparagraph (f) of paragraph one of subdivision (a) of section 265.20 of this article; or (b) within a period of six months after the effective date of this section sells, exchanges, gives, or disposes of such ghost guns to a gunsmith licensed pursuant to section 400.00 of this chapter.

Criminal sale of a ghost gun in the first degree is a class D felony.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/265.61

In plain English

(1) Selling, exchanging, giving, or disposing of 10 or more ghost guns, while knowing or having reason to know what they are, is first-degree criminal sale of a ghost gun.
(2) Voluntary surrender to a designated law-enforcement official is not the crime; neither is transfer to a gunsmith licensed under § 400.00 within the 6 months after the section’s effective date.

The offense is a class D felony. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.