Are There Rich and Powerful Permits in New York City?

First there were the stories that New York bankers were getting gun permits, and then (as we reported), the word was that they were not.

But then came an interesting story that suggests that there is actually a “rich” or “VIP” permit process in some cities such as New York City that allows for the ultra-powerful to skip the usual process. If this is true – and we have reasons to be dubious – it would truly be something to worry about it. It would mean that the rich, famous and powerful could have guns while the average law abiding citizen cannot. This is something called a parallel system

Here is just a sampling of the article that appeared on tech-blog BoingBoing:

“Permits in this parallel system are not public records. They may be issued from other states. The permits themselves are *fantastic* because they let the holder possess and carry guns in all 50 states and in DC (state-issued permits are much more restricted). They also let the permit holder disregard a lot of state gun laws (things like magazine limitations, assault weapons bans, etc, which are present in California, NY and a few other states). Also, permits within this parallel system are available at lower status / dollar thresholds than within the official systems in places like NYC. In short, this parallel, stealth system is the smart way to go, with numerous advantages.”

Again, we have reason to believe this isn’t real. But if it is… then the second amendment is truly dead.