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.