No. Rifles & shotguns in general are not legally “firearms” in NY. “Sawed off” and “assault weapon” variants are, along with handguns. Licensed “firearms” are exempted from the prohibition you reference. It’s all very stupid, but that’s long term established law in NY. I spent 10 years coming to understand it all, then left. Alas, few people bother to read the laws they live under - in part because of stupid laws like “a rifle is not a firearm”.
I can’t thank you enough for this enlightenment.
I looked up the definition of a firearm in the New York Sate law.
“Firearm” means (a) any pistol or revolver; or (b) a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or (c) a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or (d) any weapon made from a shotgun or rifle whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise if such weapon as altered, modified, or otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches; or (e) an assault weapon. For the purpose of this subdivision the length of the barrel on a shotgun or rifle shall be determined by measuring the distance between the muzzle and the face of the bolt, breech, or breechlock when closed and when the shotgun or rifle is cocked; the overall length of a weapon made from a shotgun or rifle is the distance between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to the center line of the bore. Firearm does not include an antique firearm.
Using the legal definition, my nephew does not own any firearms at all.