STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1394
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
criminal possession of a weapon in a polling place
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 6 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as
2 amended by chapter 212 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 6. License: validity. Any license issued pursuant to this section
5 shall be valid notwithstanding the provisions of any local law or ordi-
6 nance. No license shall be transferable to any other person or premises.
7 A license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, or to purchase or
8 take possession of a semiautomatic rifle, not otherwise limited as to
9 place or time of possession, shall be effective throughout the state,
10 except that the same shall not be valid within the city of New York
11 unless a special permit granting validity is issued by the police
12 commissioner of that city. A license issued under this section does not
13 authorize any person to carry a pistol or revolver into any polling
14 place on the day of an election or while early voting is in progress.
15 Such license to carry or possess shall be valid within the city of New
16 York in the absence of a permit issued by the police commissioner of
17 that city, provided that (a) the firearms covered by such license have
18 been purchased from a licensed dealer within the city of New York and
19 are being transported out of said city forthwith and immediately from
20 said dealer by the licensee in a locked container during a continuous
21 and uninterrupted trip; or provided that (b) the firearms covered by
22 such license are being transported by the licensee in a locked container
23 and the trip through the city of New York is continuous and uninter-
24 rupted; or provided that (c) the firearms covered by such license are
25 carried by armored car security guards transporting money or other valu-
26 ables, in, to, or from motor vehicles commonly known as armored cars,
27 during the course of their employment; or provided that (d) the licensee
28 is a retired police officer as police officer is defined pursuant to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03264-01-3
A. 1394 2
1 subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law or
2 a retired federal law enforcement officer, as defined in section 2.15 of
3 the criminal procedure law, who has been issued a license by an author-
4 ized licensing officer as defined in subdivision ten of section 265.00
5 of this chapter; provided, further, however, that if such license was
6 not issued in the city of New York it must be marked "Retired Police
7 Officer" or "Retired Federal Law Enforcement Officer", as the case may
8 be, and, in the case of a retired officer the license shall be deemed to
9 permit only police or federal law enforcement regulations weapons; or
10 provided that (e) the licensee is a peace officer described in subdivi-
11 sion four of section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law and the license,
12 if issued by other than the city of New York, is marked "New York State
13 Tax Department Peace Officer" and in such case the exemption shall apply
14 only to the firearm issued to such licensee by the department of taxa-
15 tion and finance. A license as gunsmith or dealer in firearms shall not
16 be valid outside the city or county, as the case may be, where issued.
17 Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of state or local law or rule
18 or regulation, the premises limitation set forth in any license to have
19 and possess a pistol or revolver in the licensee's dwelling or place of
20 business pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision two of this
21 section shall not prevent the transport of such pistol or revolver
22 directly to or from (i) another dwelling or place of business of the
23 licensee where the licensee is authorized to have and possess such
24 pistol or revolver, (ii) an indoor or outdoor shooting range that is
25 authorized by law to operate as such, (iii) a shooting competition at
26 which the licensee may possess such pistol or revolver consistent with
27 the provisions of subdivision a of section 265.20 of this chapter or
28 consistent with the law applicable at the place of such competition, or
29 (iv) any other location where the licensee is lawfully authorized to
30 have and possess such pistol or revolver; provided however, that during
31 such transport to or from a location specified in clauses (i) through
32 (iv) of this paragraph, the pistol or revolver shall be unloaded and
33 carried in a locked container, and the ammunition therefor shall be
34 carried separately; provided further, however, that a license to have
35 and possess a pistol or revolver in the licensee's dwelling or place of
36 business pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision two of this
37 section that is issued by a licensing officer other than the police
38 commissioner of the city of New York shall not authorize transport of a
39 pistol or revolver into the city of New York in the absence of written
40 authorization to do so by the police commissioner of that city. The term
41 "locked container" shall not include the glove compartment or console of
42 a vehicle.
43 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 265.01-f to read
44 as follows:
45 § 265.01-f Criminal possession of a weapon at a polling place.
46 A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon at a polling
47 place when he or she knowingly has in his or her possession a rifle,
48 shotgun, or firearm in or within one hundred feet of a polling place on
49 the day of a primary, special or general election or while early voting
50 is in progress. Nothing in this section shall apply to a police officer
51 in the performance of his or her duties.
52 Criminal possession of a weapon at a polling place is a class E felo-
53 ny.
54 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.