Sullivan Act

The Sullivan Act, also known as the Sullivan Law, is a gun control law in New York State. Upon first passage, the Sullivan Act required licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, and carrying them was a felony. The possession or carrying of weapons such as brass knuckles, sandbags, blackjacks, bludgeons or bombs was a felony, as was possessing or carrying a dagger, "dangerous knife" or razor "with intent to use the same unlawfully". Named for its primary legislative sponsor, state senator Timothy Sullivan, a Tammany Hall politician, it dates to 1911, and is still in force, making it one of the older existing gun control laws in the United States.

The law went into effect on August 31, 1911, and resulted from political pressure upon prominent New Yorkers, including Sullivan, in the form of letters and recommendations from George Petit le Brun, who worked in the city's coroner's office, after a "brazen early afternoon" murder-suicide near Gramercy Park. He "reasoned that the time had come to have legislation passed that would prevent the sale of pistols to irresponsible persons." Only five state Senators voted against it. According to Richard F. Welch who wrote a 2009 biography of Sullivan, "If there were political benefits from doing the right thing, what was the problem? But all the available evidence indicates that Tim's fight to bring firearms under control sprang from heartfelt conviction."

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.