S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   2959
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             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:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 1 of  section  400.00  of  the  penal  law,  as
 amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   1. Eligibility. No license shall be issued or renewed pursuant to this
 section  except  by  the licensing officer, and then only after investi-
 gation and finding that all statements in a  proper  application  for  a
 license  are  true.  No license shall be issued or renewed except for an
 applicant (a) twenty-one years of age or older, provided, however,  that
 where  such  applicant  has  been  honorably  discharged from the United
 States army, navy, marine corps,  air  force  or  coast  guard,  or  the
 national  guard  of the state of New York, no such age restriction shall
 apply; (b) of good moral character;  (c)  who  has  not  been  convicted
 anywhere  of  a  felony  or a serious offense; (d) who is not a fugitive
 from justice; (e) who is not an unlawful user  of  or  addicted  to  any
 controlled  substance as defined in section 21 U.S.C. 802; (f) who being
 an alien (i) is not illegally or unlawfully in the United States or (ii)
 has not been admitted to the United States  under  a  nonimmigrant  visa
 subject  to  the  exception in 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2); (g) who has not been
 discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; (h) who,
 having been a citizen of the United States, has not renounced his or her
 citizenship; (i) who has stated whether he or she has ever suffered  any
 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
 
 ity  under  the  jurisdiction  of  an office of the department of mental
 hygiene pursuant to article nine or fifteen of the mental  hygiene  law,
 article seven hundred thirty or section 330.20 of the criminal procedure
 law,  section  four  hundred two or five hundred eight of the correction
 law, section 322.2 or 353.4 of the family court act,  or  has  not  been
 civilly  confined in a secure treatment facility pursuant to article ten
 of the mental hygiene law; (k) who has not had a license revoked or  who
 is  not under a suspension or ineligibility order issued pursuant to the
 provisions of section 530.14 of the criminal procedure  law  or  section
 eight  hundred forty-two-a of the family court act; (l) in the county of
 Westchester, who has successfully completed a firearms safety course and
 test as evidenced by a certificate of completion issued in  his  or  her
 name  and endorsed and affirmed under the penalties of perjury by a duly
 authorized instructor,  except  that:  (i)  persons  who  are  honorably
 discharged  from  the  United  States  army, navy, marine corps or coast
 guard, or of the national guard of the state of New  York,  and  produce
 evidence  of  official  qualification  in  firearms  during  the term of
 service are not required to have completed those  hours  of  a  firearms
 safety  course pertaining to the safe use, carrying, possession, mainte-
 nance and storage of a firearm; and (ii) persons who  were  licensed  to
 possess  a  pistol or revolver prior to the effective date of this para-
 graph are not required to have completed a firearms  safety  course  and
 test;  (m)  who has not had a guardian appointed for him or her pursuant
 to any provision of state law, based on a determination that as a result
 of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incapacity,  condition
 or  disease,  he  or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage
 his or her own affairs; [and] (n) WHO IS NOT NAMED ON THE  NO  FLY  LIST
 MAINTAINED BY THE TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER ADMINISTERED BY THE FEDERAL
 BUREAU  OF  INVESTIGATION;  AND (O) concerning whom no good cause exists
 for the denial of the license. No person shall engage in the business of
 gunsmith or dealer in firearms unless licensed pursuant to this section.
 An applicant to engage in such business shall also be a citizen  of  the
 United States, more than twenty-one years of age and maintain a place of
 business  in  the  city  or county where the license is issued. For such
 business, if the applicant is a firm or partnership, each member thereof
 shall comply with all of the requirements set forth in this  subdivision
 and  if  the  applicant  is a corporation, each officer thereof shall so
 comply.
   § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as  amended  by
 chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  Investigation.  Before a license is issued or renewed, there shall
 be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the
 duly constituted police authorities of the locality where such  applica-
 tion is made, including but not limited to such records as may be acces-
 sible  to  the  division of state police or division of criminal justice
 services pursuant to section 400.02 of this article. For  that  purpose,
 the  records  of  the  appropriate  office  of  the department of mental
 hygiene concerning previous or present mental illness of  the  applicant
 shall  be  available  for inspection by the investigating officer of the
 police authority. In order to ascertain any  previous  criminal  record,
 the  investigating  officer  shall  take  the  fingerprints and physical
 descriptive data in quadruplicate of each individual by whom the  appli-
 cation  is signed and verified. Two copies of such fingerprints shall be
 taken on standard fingerprint cards eight inches square,  and  one  copy
 may  be  taken on a card supplied for that purpose by the federal bureau
 of investigation; provided, however, that in the  case  of  a  corporate

 A. 2959                             3
 
 applicant  that has already been issued a dealer in firearms license and
 seeks to  operate  a  firearm  dealership  at  a  second  or  subsequent
 location, the original fingerprints on file may be used to ascertain any
 criminal  record  in  the second or subsequent application unless any of
 the corporate officers have changed  since  the  prior  application,  in
 which  case  the  new  corporate  officer  shall  comply with procedures
 governing an initial application for such license. When  completed,  one
 standard  card  shall  be  forwarded  to and retained by the division of
 criminal justice services in the  executive  department,  at  Albany.  A
 search  of  the  files  of such division and written notification of the
 results of the search to the investigating officer shall be made without
 unnecessary delay. Thereafter, such division shall notify the  licensing
 officer  and the executive department, division of state police, Albany,
 of any criminal record of the applicant filed therein subsequent to  the
 search  of its files. A second standard card, or the one supplied by the
 federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be, shall be  forwarded
 to  that  bureau  at  Washington  with  a  request that the files of the
 bureau, INCLUDING THE NO FLY LIST MAINTAINED BY THE TERRORIST  SCREENING
 CENTER,  be  searched  and  notification of the results of the search be
 made to the investigating police authority. Of the remaining two finger-
 print cards, one shall be filed with the executive department,  division
 of  state police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the license,
 and the other remain on file with the investigating police authority. No
 such fingerprints may be inspected by any  person  other  than  a  peace
 officer, who is acting pursuant to his special duties, or a police offi-
 cer,  except  on order of a judge or justice of a court of record either
 upon notice to the licensee or without notice, as the judge  or  justice
 may  deem  appropriate. Upon completion of the investigation, the police
 authority shall report the results  to  the  licensing  officer  without
 unnecessary delay.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.