The New York pistol licence

From the Sullivan Act of 1911, amended in 1913, no one over sixteen in New York could possess a pistol or revolver small enough to be concealed without a written licence, a misdemeanor, or carry one concealed without it, a felony. A magistrate licensed a householder to keep it in his dwelling, a merchant in his place of business, a bank or express messenger to carry it while in that employ, and anyone of good moral character with proper cause to carry it concealed; an alien or a non-resident could be licensed only by a judge, who wrote the particular reason and the names of those who vouched for him on the licence.

No licence of the period has been found, so the paper Bearer prints is a reconstruction on the section, and the office says so above it.

Bearer makes an investigator's papers for Call of Cthulhu and any 1920s or 1930s tabletop campaign: the passport a consul would have filled in, with the visas and frontier stamps a campaign leaves in it, and the permits, certificates and tickets of the period, to print or to share.

An example

Open this example in the office

The paper

A reconstruction

This paper is a reconstruction. No New York pistol license of the period has been found: its kinds, its conditions and what it states are those of section 1897 of the Penal Law as amended by the Sullivan Act and in 1913 (a householder in his dwelling, a merchant in his place of business, a bank or express messenger while in that employ, or carried concealed on good moral character and proper cause; for an alien or a non-resident, only by a judge, who states the reason and the names of those certifying the applicant's character). The words and layout are ours.

The same paper elsewhere

• Pistol licences by state

Still to be confirmed

• the whole paper. What would settle it: a New York pistol license of 1920 to 1939.
• validity of one year. What would settle it: the licensing practice of the magistrates and of the Police Commissioner of New York City.
• in New York City the Police Commissioner issued the licences under a later amendment of the section; the magistrate of the 1913 text is printed for every date. What would settle it: the amendments of § 1897 after 1913.

Sources

• State of New York; in The Penal Law and Code of Criminal Procedure of the State of New York (Cook, 1914), archive.org, New York Penal Law, § 1897, Carrying and use of dangerous weapons, as amended by L. 1911 ch. 195 (the Sullivan Act) and L. 1913 ch. 608, no pistol or revolver of a size to be concealed possessed without a written licence (a misdemeanor), none carried concealed without one (a felony); licences issued by a magistrate to a householder (in his dwelling), a merchant or storekeeper (in his place of business), a messenger of a bank or express company (carried concealed while in that employ), and to have and carry concealed without regard to employment on proof of good moral character and proper cause; to an alien or a non-resident only by a judge of a court of record, stating the particular reason and the names of those certifying to the applicant's good moral character; a licence may be limited as to its expiration and is good throughout the state (read directly)

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