NYPD zones in on Trump's gun permit after felony conviction

As a convicted felon, the former president cannot possess a firearm in the United States

Published June 5, 2024 7:26PM (EDT)

Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention Leadership Forum at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday, April 14, 2023. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the National Rifle Association (NRA) annual convention Leadership Forum at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday, April 14, 2023. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

A week after his felony conviction in a Manhattan courthouse, the New York Police Department is preparing to strip Donald Trump of his permit to carry a firearm in New York City.

Per CNN, the former president lost his concealed carry permit, which allowed him to carry a firearm on his person, in April of last year following indictment in a felony hush money case for which he was found guilty last week. The verdict means that he will have to give up his permit to own a firearm in the United States, which prohibits felon gun possession, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

As the NYPD notes, “Federal law and New York State law both prohibit an individual with a felony conviction from being eligible for a permit to possess a firearm.”  

Though the NYPD’s Legal Bureau is completing an investigation, according to CNN, Trump’s ownership of a gun is already unlawful under federal law. He would have to have his conviction overturned or expunged to be eligible for future firearm ownership.

Trump, who told the Washington Times in 2012 that he owned a small handgun and held a concealed carry permit in New York City, rarely speaks of his own gun use and ownership. His recent appearance at the National Rifle Association convention to accept an endorsement made headlines not for his support of gun owners, but for his suggestion that he could serve three terms as president.

Sentencing in Trump’s felony conviction is expected on July 11.


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