STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          3841

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 28, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. ABINANTI, GOTTFRIED, DICKENS, DINOWITZ, FERNAN-
          DEZ, McDONOUGH, FAHY, PICHARDO, SAYEGH, STIRPE, LAVINE, COLTON, GALEF,
          WILLIAMS, HYNDMAN, TAYLOR, FALL, GRIFFIN, DAVILA,  STECK,  SMULLEN  --
          Multi-Sponsored  by -- M. of A. NOLAN -- 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

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00709-01-1

        A. 3841                             2

     1  mental illness; (j) who has not been involuntarily committed to a facil-
     2  ity under the jurisdiction of an office  of  the  department  of  mental
     3  hygiene  pursuant  to article nine or fifteen of the mental hygiene law,
     4  article seven hundred thirty or section 330.20 of the criminal procedure
     5  law,  section  four  hundred two or five hundred eight of the correction
     6  law, section 322.2 or 353.4 of the family court act,  or  has  not  been
     7  civilly  confined in a secure treatment facility pursuant to article ten
     8  of the mental hygiene law; (k) who has not had a license revoked or  who
     9  is  not under a suspension or ineligibility order issued pursuant to the
    10  provisions of section 530.14 of the criminal procedure  law  or  section
    11  eight  hundred forty-two-a of the family court act; (l) in the county of
    12  Westchester, who has successfully completed a firearms safety course and
    13  test as evidenced by a certificate of completion issued in  his  or  her
    14  name  and endorsed and affirmed under the penalties of perjury by a duly
    15  authorized instructor,  except  that:  (i)  persons  who  are  honorably
    16  discharged  from  the  United  States  army, navy, marine corps or coast
    17  guard, or of the national guard of the state of New  York,  and  produce
    18  evidence  of  official  qualification  in  firearms  during  the term of
    19  service are not required to have completed those  hours  of  a  firearms
    20  safety  course pertaining to the safe use, carrying, possession, mainte-
    21  nance and storage of a firearm; and (ii) persons who  were  licensed  to
    22  possess  a  pistol or revolver prior to the effective date of this para-
    23  graph are not required to have completed a firearms  safety  course  and
    24  test;  (m)  who has not had a guardian appointed for him or her pursuant
    25  to any provision of state law, based on a determination that as a result
    26  of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incapacity,  condition
    27  or  disease,  he  or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage
    28  his or her own affairs; [and] (n) who is not named on the  No  Fly  List
    29  maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center administered by the Federal
    30  Bureau  of  Investigation;  and (o) concerning whom no good cause exists
    31  for the denial of the license. No person shall engage in the business of
    32  gunsmith or dealer in firearms unless licensed pursuant to this section.
    33  An applicant to engage in such business shall also be a citizen  of  the
    34  United States, more than twenty-one years of age and maintain a place of
    35  business  in  the  city  or county where the license is issued. For such
    36  business, if the applicant is a firm or partnership, each member thereof
    37  shall comply with all of the requirements set forth in this  subdivision
    38  and  if  the  applicant  is a corporation, each officer thereof shall so
    39  comply.
    40    § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as  amended  by
    41  chapter 242 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
    42    4.  Investigation.  Before a license is issued or renewed, there shall
    43  be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the
    44  duly constituted police authorities of the locality where such  applica-
    45  tion is made, including but not limited to such records as may be acces-
    46  sible  to  the  division of state police or division of criminal justice
    47  services pursuant to section 400.02 of this article. For  that  purpose,
    48  the  records  of  the  appropriate  office  of  the department of mental
    49  hygiene concerning previous or present mental illness of  the  applicant
    50  shall  be  available  for inspection by the investigating officer of the
    51  police authority. Where the applicant is domiciled in a  foreign  state,
    52  the investigation shall include inquiry of the foreign state for records
    53  concerning the previous or present mental illness of the applicant, and,
    54  to the extent necessary for inspection by the investigating officer, the
    55  applicant  shall  execute  a waiver of confidentiality of such record in
    56  such form as may be required by the foreign state. In order to ascertain

        A. 3841                             3

     1  any previous criminal record, the investigating officer shall  take  the
     2  fingerprints  and  physical  descriptive  data  in quadruplicate of each
     3  individual by whom the application is signed and verified. Two copies of
     4  such  fingerprints  shall  be  taken on standard fingerprint cards eight
     5  inches square, and one copy may be taken on a  card  supplied  for  that
     6  purpose  by the federal bureau of investigation; provided, however, that
     7  in the case of a corporate applicant that  has  already  been  issued  a
     8  dealer  in firearms license and seeks to operate a firearm dealership at
     9  a second or subsequent location, the original fingerprints on  file  may
    10  be  used  to  ascertain  any criminal record in the second or subsequent
    11  application unless any of the corporate officers have changed since  the
    12  prior  application, in which case the new corporate officer shall comply
    13  with procedures governing an initial application for such license.  When
    14  completed,  one  standard card shall be forwarded to and retained by the
    15  division of criminal justice services in the  executive  department,  at
    16  Albany.  A search of the files of such division and written notification
    17  of the results of the search to the investigating officer shall be  made
    18  without  unnecessary  delay.  Thereafter, such division shall notify the
    19  licensing officer  and  the  executive  department,  division  of  state
    20  police,  Albany,  of  any criminal record of the applicant filed therein
    21  subsequent to the search of its files. A second standard  card,  or  the
    22  one supplied by the federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be,
    23  shall  be forwarded to that bureau at Washington with a request that the
    24  files of the bureau, including the No Fly List maintained by the Terror-
    25  ist Screening Center, be searched and notification of the results of the
    26  search be made to the investigating police authority. Of  the  remaining
    27  two fingerprint cards, one shall be filed with the executive department,
    28  division  of state police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the
    29  license, and the other remain on  file  with  the  investigating  police
    30  authority.  No  such  fingerprints  may be inspected by any person other
    31  than a peace officer, who is acting  pursuant  to  his  or  her  special
    32  duties,  or a police officer, except on order of a judge or justice of a
    33  court of record either upon notice to the licensee or without notice, as
    34  the judge or justice may deem appropriate. Upon completion of the inves-
    35  tigation, the police authority shall report the results to the licensing
    36  officer without unnecessary delay.
    37    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.