OK to take guns to biz, 2nd home

The NYPD plans to loosen its rules around gun transportation to allow licensed owners to carry firearms to a second home or a business — instead of restricting them to shooting ranges.

The new rules will apply to places were it’s permitted to carry licensed weapons.

Currently the NYPD only allows licensed city gun owners to move their weapons to approved gun ranges or areas where hunting is legal.

Weapons have to be unloaded while being moved and the ammunition must be carried separately. That rule will not change, the NYPD says.

Once the NYPD’s new policy goes into effect — following a public comment period — licensed city gun owners will be able to bring weapons with them to a second home or to a business, as well as other places firearm possession is permitted, like a range or for a shooting competition.

The NYPD, which has waged an intense campaign to halt interstate gun trafficking, described the rule change as important to the legitimate interests of licensed gun owners.

“This change applies only to legal gun owners who have already gone through a strenuous background verification process,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said. “The NYPD’s focus will always be on criminals who wield illegal guns, and those who would use guns to cause violence on our streets. Reasonably accommodating the interests of licensed gun owners in transporting their firearms to a legal shooting range or second home strikes a responsible balance between individual interests and public safety.”

The change in policy will affect 16,600 licensed gun owners in the city. The 30-day public comment period begins next week and will end in early to mid-May.

The new proposed policy would not affect gun owners from outside the city. The city has opposed the so-called Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow licensed gun owners in one state to carry their guns into another state. That bill has stalled in the House subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.