NY State Senate Bill 2019-S6160

Senate Bill S6160

Signed By Governor

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Relates to local and state law enforcement's access to records of applications for licenses of firearms

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Archive: Last Bill Status - Signed by Governor

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Sep 03, 2019	signed chap.244 delivered to governor
Jun 20, 2019	returned to senate passed assembly
Jun 18, 2019	ordered to third reading rules cal.404 substituted for a7739
Jun 05, 2019	referred to codes delivered to assembly passed senate ordered to third reading cal.1203 committee discharged and committed to rules
May 21, 2019	referred to codes

Votes

- Jun 5, 2019 - Floor Vote
  S6160
  
  41
  
  Aye
  
  21
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Floor Vote: Jun 5, 2019
      
      aye (41)
      
      Addabbo Jr.
      
      Akshar
      
      Bailey
      
      Benjamin
      
      Biaggi
      
      Breslin
      
      Brooks
      
      Carlucci
      
      Comrie
      
      Felder
      
      Gaughran
      
      Gianaris
      
      Gounardes
      
      Harckham
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Jackson
      
      Kaminsky
      
      Kaplan
      
      Kavanagh
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Liu
      
      Martinez
      
      May
      
      Mayer
      
      Metzger
      
      Montgomery
      
      Myrie
      
      Parker
      
      Persaud
      
      Ramos
      
      Rivera
      
      Salazar
      
      Sanders Jr.
      
      Savino
      
      Sepúlveda
      
      Serrano
      
      Skoufis
      
      Stavisky
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      Thomas
      
      nay (21)
      
      Amedore
      
      Antonacci
      
      Boyle
      
      Flanagan
      
      Funke
      
      Gallivan
      
      Griffo
      
      Helming
      
      Jacobs
      
      Jordan
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      O'Mara
      
      Ortt
      
      Ranzenhofer
      
      Ritchie
      
      Robach
      
      Serino
      
      Seward
      
      Tedisco
  Jun 5, 2019 - Rules Committee Vote
  S6160
  
  12
  
  Aye
  
  7
  
  Nay
  
  0
  
  Aye with Reservations
  
  0
  
  Absent
  
  0
  
  Excused
  
  0
  
  Abstained
  - - Rules Committee Vote: Jun 5, 2019
      
      aye (12)
      
      Benjamin
      
      Breslin
      
      Comrie
      
      Gianaris
      
      Hoylman-Sigal
      
      Kennedy
      
      Krueger
      
      Liu
      
      Martinez
      
      Parker
      
      Savino
      
      Stewart-Cousins
      
      nay (7)
      
      Flanagan
      
      Griffo
      
      LaValle
      
      Lanza
      
      Little
      
      Robach
      
      Seward

co-Sponsors

2019-S6160 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A7739
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§400 & 400.02, Pen L

2019-S6160 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Grants access to local and state law enforcement of records of applications for licenses of firearms.

2019-S6160 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S6160

SPONSOR: BIAGGI
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to local
and state law enforcement's access to records of applications for
licenses of firearms

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To grant law enforcement officers access to and copies of application
information for firearms licenses.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (e) of subdivision 5 of
section 400.00 of the penal law to provide that local and state law
enforcement shall, upon request, be granted access to and copies of
application information for firearms licenses.

Section 2 amends section 400.2 of the penal law to make a technical
correction.

Section 3 provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

When the SAFE Act was enacted in 2013, it included a provision that
allows handgun license-holders and applicants to request that their
application information be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Law. Language to provide that local and state law enforce-
ment would still be able to access to this information was not included.
Due to this omission in the law, this information is not currently
released to law enforcement at the local level.

The State Police does provide this information to law enforcement upon
request, but those requests can only be made for one specifically named
individual at a time and only between the hours of 9:00 to 5:00. Since
most domestic violence incidents occur in the evening, law enforcement
would not be able to obtain this information from the State Police in
these cases.

Without access to this information, law enforcement does not know wheth-
er an individual has a gun or if a gun is likely on the premises.  This
puts law enforcement in danger, particularly in domestic violence inci-
dents, where they must enter a home without any knowledge of whether a
gun is present.

Having this information would allow law enforcement to take extra
precautions to provide for their safety and the safety of others in the
home.

Once a statewide license and record database is operational, law
enforcement will be able to access all of this information automatic
ally, through the database. Until that time, we must change the law to
ensure that law enforcement can obtain this critical information.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2019-S6160 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6160
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               May 21, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law,  in  relation  to  local  and  state  law
   enforcement's  access  to  records  of  applications  for  licenses of
   firearms

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Subparagraph  (iii)  of paragraph (e) of subdivision 5 of
 section 400.00 of the penal law, as added by chapter 1 of  the  laws  of
 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   (iii)  If an exception is sought and granted pursuant to paragraph (b)
 of this subdivision, the application information  shall  not  be  public
 record,  unless  the  request  is  determined to be null and void. If an
 exception is sought and granted pursuant to paragraph (c) of this subdi-
 vision, the  information  concerning  such  recertification  application
 shall  not be public record, unless the request is determined to be null
 and void.   NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  SUBPARA-
 GRAPH,  LOCAL  AND STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT SHALL, UPON REQUEST, BE GRANTED
 ACCESS TO AND COPIES OF SUCH APPLICATION INFORMATION PROVIDED THAT  SUCH
 INFORMATION  OBTAINED  BY  LAW ENFORCEMENT PURSUANT TO THIS SUBPARAGRAPH
 SHALL NOT BE CONSIDERED A PUBLIC RECORD OF SUCH LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
   § 2. Section 400.02 of the penal law, as added by  chapter  1  of  the
 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
 § 400.02 Statewide license and record database.
   There  shall be a statewide license and record database which shall be
 created and maintained by the division of state police the cost of which
 shall not be borne by any municipality. Records assembled  or  collected
 for  purposes  of  inclusion  in  such  database shall not be subject to
 disclosure pursuant to article six of the public officers  law.  Records
 containing granted license applications shall be periodically checked by
 the  division  of criminal justice services against criminal conviction,
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD11149-02-9

 S. 6160                             2
 
 mental health, and all other records as are necessary to determine their
 continued accuracy as well as whether an individual is no longer a valid
 license holder. The division of criminal  justice  services  shall  also
 check  pending  applications  made pursuant to this article against such
 records to determine whether a license may be granted. All  state  agen-
 cies  shall cooperate with the division of criminal justice services, as
 otherwise authorized by law, in making their records available for  such
 checks. The division of criminal justice services, upon determining that
 an  individual  is  ineligible  to  possess a license, or is no longer a
 valid license holder, shall notify the applicable licensing official  of
 such determination and such licensing official shall not issue a license
 or  revoke such license and any weapons owned or possessed by such indi-
 vidual shall be removed consistent with the  provisions  of  subdivision
 eleven  of  section 400.00 of this article. Local and state law enforce-
 ment shall have access to such database[,  as  otherwise  authorized  by
 law,] in the performance of their duties. Records assembled or collected
 for  purposes  of  inclusion in the database established by this section
 shall be released pursuant to a court order.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S6160

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Sponsored By

Alessandra Biaggi