STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           503
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                       (Prefiled)
                                     January 9, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. PAULIN, ABINANTI, ENGLEBRIGHT, JAFFEE, L. ROSEN-
          THAL, GALEF, COOK, ORTIZ, CYMBROWITZ, DINOWITZ, WEPRIN,  FAHY,  BRAUN-
          STEIN,  MOSLEY,  BUCHWALD,  STECK, COLTON, ROZIC, SEAWRIGHT, LAVINE --
          Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ARROYO, AUBRY, CRESPO, DenDEKKER, GOTT-
          FRIED, HEVESI, PERRY, RICHARDSON, SIMON, THIELE, WRIGHT --  read  once
          and referred to the Committee on Codes
        AN ACT to amend the penal law, and the general business law, in relation
          to  the  safe  storage of rifles, shotguns, or firearms; and to repeal
          certain provisions of the penal law relating thereto
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
     2  "Nicholas's law".
     3    2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds the following:
     4    a.  The presence of unsecured, easily accessible, weapons in homes and
     5  other places increases the likelihood of death or injury from  accidents
     6  and impulsive acts;
     7    b.  Guns  left  unattended  must  be kept locked or stored securely to
     8  prevent access by children and others who  should  not  have  access  to
     9  them; and
    10    c.  Gun owners and other lawful possessors are responsible for keeping
    11  their weapons from falling into the hands of children  and  other  unau-
    12  thorized individuals.
    13    §  2.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 265.44 to read
    14  as follows:
    15  § 265.44 Definition.
    16    For purposes of sections 265.45, 265.46, and 265.47 of  this  article,
    17  "safe  storage  depository"  shall mean a safe or other secure container
    18  which, when locked, is incapable of being opened without the key, combi-
    19  nation or other unlocking mechanism  and  is  capable  of  preventing  a
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03712-01-9

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     1  person other than the owner or custodian access to and possession of the
     2  weapon contained therein.
     3    §  3.  Section  265.45  of  the  penal  law  is REPEALED and three new
     4  sections 265.45, 265.46 and 265.47 are added to read as follows:
     5  § 265.45 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun,  firearm  or  antique
     6             firearm.
     7    A  person  is  guilty  of  failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun,
     8  firearm or antique firearm when he or she  owns  or  has  custody  of  a
     9  rifle,  shotgun, firearm or antique firearm and leaves such rifle, shot-
    10  gun, firearm or antique firearm out of his or her  immediate  possession
    11  or  control  without  having  first securely locked such rifle, shotgun,
    12  firearm or antique firearm in an appropriate safe storage depository  or
    13  rendered  it  incapable  of  being  fired by use of a gun locking device
    14  appropriate to that weapon; provided, however, that actual possession of
    15  a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm by the holder  of  a  valid
    16  New  York hunting license or permit issued pursuant to article eleven of
    17  the environmental conservation law and contemporaneously used in accord-
    18  ance with such law shall not be governed by this section.
    19    Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect, impair or supersede
    20  any special or local law relating to the safe storage of  rifles,  shot-
    21  guns, firearms or antique firearms which imposes additional requirements
    22  on the owner or custodian of such weapons.
    23    Failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm
    24  is a violation.
    25  § 265.46 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun,  firearm  or  antique
    26             firearm in the second degree.
    27    A  person  is  guilty  of  failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun,
    28  firearm or antique firearm in the second degree when he or  she  commits
    29  the  crime  of  failure  to  safely  store  a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
    30  antique firearm as defined in section 265.45 of this article and:
    31    1. at the time of the commission of such crime, he or she resides with
    32  another individual who such person  knows  or  has  reason  to  know  is
    33  prohibited  from possessing a firearm pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1),
    34  (4), (8) or (9);
    35    2. he or she has been previously convicted of failure to safely  store
    36  a  rifle,  shotgun, firearm or antique firearm within the past ten years
    37  under this section, or section 265.45 or 265.47 of this article; or
    38    3. as a result, such rifle, shotgun, firearm  or  antique  firearm  is
    39  obtained by an unauthorized person and discharges causing physical inju-
    40  ry to any other person.
    41    Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect, impair or supersede
    42  any  special  or local law relating to the safe storage of rifles, shot-
    43  guns, firearms or antique firearms, which  imposes  additional  require-
    44  ments on the owner or custodian of such weapons.
    45    Failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm
    46  in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.
    47  § 265.47 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun,  firearm  or  antique
    48             firearm in the first degree.
    49    A  person  is  guilty  of  failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun,
    50  firearm or antique firearm in the first degree when he  or  she  commits
    51  the  offense  of  failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
    52  antique firearm as defined in section 265.45 of this article  and  as  a
    53  result,  such  rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm is obtained by
    54  an unauthorized person and discharges causing the  death  of  any  other
    55  person.

        A. 503                              3
     1    Failure  to  safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm
     2  in the first degree is a class E felony.
     3    §  4.  The  penal  law is amended by adding three new sections 265.49,
     4  265.51 and 265.53 to read as follows:
     5  § 265.49 Failure to provide notice in the second degree.
     6    No person shall sell or transfer  ownership  of  any  rifle,  shotgun,
     7  firearm,  or  antique firearm to another person unless the transferee is
     8  provided at the time of sale, delivery, or transfer with:
     9    1. A gun locking device that is capable of preventing that  particular
    10  weapon from firing or a safe storage depository; and
    11    2.  A copy of the following warning in conspicuous and legible twenty-
    12  four point type on eight and one-half  inches  by  eleven  inches  paper
    13  stating in bold print the following warning:
    14                                   WARNING
    15  RESPONSIBLE  FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS MUST
    16  EITHER BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE OR IN A SAFE STORAGE  DEPOSI-
    17  TORY  OR NOT BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF THE
    18  OWNER OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED  AND
    19  LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNITION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSI-
    20  BLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR
    21  BOTH.
    22    Failure to provide notice in the second degree is a violation.
    23  § 265.51 Failure to provide notice in the first degree.
    24    A  person  is  guilty of failure to provide notice in the first degree
    25  when he or she commits the offense of failure to provide notice  in  the
    26  second  degree as defined in section 265.49 of this article and has been
    27  previously convicted of failure to provide notice under this section  or
    28  section 265.49 of this article within the preceding ten years.
    29    Failure  to  provide notice in the first degree is a class B misdemea-
    30  nor.
    31  § 265.53 Reporting of certain firearm convictions.
    32    When a person has a prior conviction for failure  to  safely  store  a
    33  rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the second degree or fail-
    34  ure  to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the
    35  first degree, upon a second or  subsequent  conviction  of  either  such
    36  offense,  the  district  attorney  or  other  prosecuting  authority who
    37  obtained such conviction shall provide notice of such conviction to both
    38  the division of state police and, if such person possesses  a  New  York
    39  state  issued  handgun  license,  the  pertinent  licensing  officer who
    40  currently exercises legal authority over  such  person's  license.  Such
    41  notice  shall  include  the  offense  for  which  the defendant has been
    42  convicted, the name and address of such offender and  other  identifying
    43  information,  including the offender's date of birth and social security
    44  number, to the extent consistent with federal and state  laws  governing
    45  personal  privacy  and  confidentiality  of  information.  Such district
    46  attorney or other prosecuting authority shall include in such notice the
    47  name and business address of the offender's counsel  of  record  in  the
    48  criminal proceeding. Such notice must be filed not more than thirty days
    49  after judgment has been entered.
    50    § 5. Section 400.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
    51  vision 18 to read as follows:
    52    18.  Notice.  Upon the issuance or renewal of a license, the licensing
    53  officer shall issue therewith the following notice  in  conspicuous  and
    54  legible  twenty-four  point  type on eight and one-half inches by eleven
    55  inches paper stating in bold print the following:
    56                                   WARNING

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     1  RESPONSIBLE FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS  MUST
     2  EITHER  BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE OR IN A SAFE STORAGE DEPOSI-
     3  TORY OR NOT BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF  THE
     4  OWNER  OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED AND
     5  LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNITION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSI-
     6  BLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR
     7  BOTH.
     8    §  6.  Subdivision 2 of section 396-ee of the general business law, as
     9  added by chapter 189 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows:
    10    (2) Every person, firm or corporation engaged in the  retail  business
    11  of  selling rifles, shotguns [or], firearms or antique firearms, as such
    12  terms are defined in section 265.00 of the  penal  law,  shall,  in  the
    13  place where such rifles, shotguns [or], firearms or antique firearms are
    14  displayed  or  transferred to the purchaser, post a notice conspicuously
    15  stating in bold print that: ["The use of a locking device or safety lock
    16  is only one aspect of responsible firearm storage.  For increased safety
    17  firearms should be stored unloaded and locked in a location that is both
    18  separate from their ammunition and  inaccessible  to  children  and  any
    19  other  unauthorized  person."]"RESPONSIBLE FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN
    20  NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS MUST EITHER BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE
    21  OR IN A SAFE STORAGE DEPOSITORY OR NOT BE  LEFT  OUTSIDE  THE  IMMEDIATE
    22  POSSESSION  AND CONTROL OF THE OWNER OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS
    23  SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED AND LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNI-
    24  TION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSIBLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT
    25  YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR BOTH."
    26    § 7. Severability. If any word, phrase, clause,  sentence,  paragraph,
    27  section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent
    28  jurisdiction  to  be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or
    29  invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation
    30  to the word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part ther-
    31  eof directly involved in the controversy in which  such  judgment  shall
    32  have been rendered.
    33    § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
    34  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.