S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1602
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 14, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- 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 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, paragraph (c)  as  amended  by
 chapter 60 of the laws of 2018, 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 or who is not the subject of
 an outstanding warrant of arrest issued upon the alleged commission of a
 felony or 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 admit-
 ted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa subject to the excep-
 tion  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 citi-
 zen 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;
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD00709-02-1

 S. 1602                             2
 
 (j) who has not been involuntarily committed to  a  facility  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 author-
 ized 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, maintenance and stor-
 age of a firearm; and (ii) persons who were licensed to possess a pistol
 or revolver prior to the  effective  date  of  this  paragraph  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  MAIN-
 TAINED  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 242 of the laws of 2019, 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.  Where the applicant is domiciled in a foreign state,
 the investigation shall include inquiry of the foreign state for records
 concerning the previous or present mental illness of the applicant, and,
 to the extent necessary for inspection by the investigating officer, the
 applicant shall execute a waiver of confidentiality of  such  record  in
 such form as may be required by the foreign state. In order to ascertain

 S. 1602                             3
 
 any  previous  criminal record, the investigating officer shall take the
 fingerprints and physical descriptive  data  in  quadruplicate  of  each
 individual by whom the application 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 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 TERROR-
 IST SCREENING CENTER, be searched and notification of the results of the
 search be made to the investigating police authority. Of  the  remaining
 two fingerprint 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  or  her  special
 duties,  or a police officer, 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 inves-
 tigation, the police authority shall report the results to the licensing
 officer without unnecessary delay.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.