STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2959
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI, SIMON, JAFFEE, PICHARDO, RICHARDSON,
THIELE, RIVERA, BLAKE, DILAN, BICHOTTE, WRIGHT, GOTTFRIED, STECK --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. GALEF, GLICK, LIFTON, SKARTADOS -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to prohibiting persons named
on the No Fly List maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center admin-
istered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from obtaining or
renewing a license to carry, possess, repair and dispose of firearms
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
3 1. Eligibility. No license shall be issued or renewed pursuant to this
4 section except by the licensing officer, and then only after investi-
5 gation and finding that all statements in a proper application for a
6 license are true. No license shall be issued or renewed except for an
7 applicant (a) twenty-one years of age or older, provided, however, that
8 where such applicant has been honorably discharged from the United
9 States army, navy, marine corps, air force or coast guard, or the
10 national guard of the state of New York, no such age restriction shall
11 apply; (b) of good moral character; (c) who has not been convicted
12 anywhere of a felony or a serious offense; (d) who is not a fugitive
13 from justice; (e) who is not an unlawful user of or addicted to any
14 controlled substance as defined in section 21 U.S.C. 802; (f) who being
15 an alien (i) is not illegally or unlawfully in the United States or (ii)
16 has not been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa
17 subject to the exception in 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2); (g) who has not been
18 discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; (h) who,
19 having been a citizen of the United States, has not renounced his or her
20 citizenship; (i) who has stated whether he or she has ever suffered any
21 mental illness; (j) who has not been involuntarily committed to a facil-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03950-01-7
A. 2959 2
1 ity under the jurisdiction of an office of the department of mental
2 hygiene pursuant to article nine or fifteen of the mental hygiene law,
3 article seven hundred thirty or section 330.20 of the criminal procedure
4 law, section four hundred two or five hundred eight of the correction
5 law, section 322.2 or 353.4 of the family court act, or has not been
6 civilly confined in a secure treatment facility pursuant to article ten
7 of the mental hygiene law; (k) who has not had a license revoked or who
8 is not under a suspension or ineligibility order issued pursuant to the
9 provisions of section 530.14 of the criminal procedure law or section
10 eight hundred forty-two-a of the family court act; (l) in the county of
11 Westchester, who has successfully completed a firearms safety course and
12 test as evidenced by a certificate of completion issued in his or her
13 name and endorsed and affirmed under the penalties of perjury by a duly
14 authorized instructor, except that: (i) persons who are honorably
15 discharged from the United States army, navy, marine corps or coast
16 guard, or of the national guard of the state of New York, and produce
17 evidence of official qualification in firearms during the term of
18 service are not required to have completed those hours of a firearms
19 safety course pertaining to the safe use, carrying, possession, mainte-
20 nance and storage of a firearm; and (ii) persons who were licensed to
21 possess a pistol or revolver prior to the effective date of this para-
22 graph are not required to have completed a firearms safety course and
23 test; (m) who has not had a guardian appointed for him or her pursuant
24 to any provision of state law, based on a determination that as a result
25 of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incapacity, condition
26 or disease, he or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage
27 his or her own affairs; [and] (n) who is not named on the No Fly List
28 maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center administered by the Federal
29 Bureau of Investigation; and (o) concerning whom no good cause exists
30 for the denial of the license. No person shall engage in the business of
31 gunsmith or dealer in firearms unless licensed pursuant to this section.
32 An applicant to engage in such business shall also be a citizen of the
33 United States, more than twenty-one years of age and maintain a place of
34 business in the city or county where the license is issued. For such
35 business, if the applicant is a firm or partnership, each member thereof
36 shall comply with all of the requirements set forth in this subdivision
37 and if the applicant is a corporation, each officer thereof shall so
38 comply.
39 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as amended by
40 chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
41 4. Investigation. Before a license is issued or renewed, there shall
42 be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the
43 duly constituted police authorities of the locality where such applica-
44 tion is made, including but not limited to such records as may be acces-
45 sible to the division of state police or division of criminal justice
46 services pursuant to section 400.02 of this article. For that purpose,
47 the records of the appropriate office of the department of mental
48 hygiene concerning previous or present mental illness of the applicant
49 shall be available for inspection by the investigating officer of the
50 police authority. In order to ascertain any previous criminal record,
51 the investigating officer shall take the fingerprints and physical
52 descriptive data in quadruplicate of each individual by whom the appli-
53 cation is signed and verified. Two copies of such fingerprints shall be
54 taken on standard fingerprint cards eight inches square, and one copy
55 may be taken on a card supplied for that purpose by the federal bureau
56 of investigation; provided, however, that in the case of a corporate
A. 2959 3
1 applicant that has already been issued a dealer in firearms license and
2 seeks to operate a firearm dealership at a second or subsequent
3 location, the original fingerprints on file may be used to ascertain any
4 criminal record in the second or subsequent application unless any of
5 the corporate officers have changed since the prior application, in
6 which case the new corporate officer shall comply with procedures
7 governing an initial application for such license. When completed, one
8 standard card shall be forwarded to and retained by the division of
9 criminal justice services in the executive department, at Albany. A
10 search of the files of such division and written notification of the
11 results of the search to the investigating officer shall be made without
12 unnecessary delay. Thereafter, such division shall notify the licensing
13 officer and the executive department, division of state police, Albany,
14 of any criminal record of the applicant filed therein subsequent to the
15 search of its files. A second standard card, or the one supplied by the
16 federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be, shall be forwarded
17 to that bureau at Washington with a request that the files of the
18 bureau, including the No Fly List maintained by the Terrorist Screening
19 Center, be searched and notification of the results of the search be
20 made to the investigating police authority. Of the remaining two finger-
21 print cards, one shall be filed with the executive department, division
22 of state police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the license,
23 and the other remain on file with the investigating police authority. No
24 such fingerprints may be inspected by any person other than a peace
25 officer, who is acting pursuant to his special duties, or a police offi-
26 cer, except on order of a judge or justice of a court of record either
27 upon notice to the licensee or without notice, as the judge or justice
28 may deem appropriate. Upon completion of the investigation, the police
29 authority shall report the results to the licensing officer without
30 unnecessary delay.
31 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.