S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1623
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
January 14, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. GALLIVAN, AKSHAR, HELMING, JORDAN, TEDISCO -- 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 the recertification proc-
ess for licenses for firearms
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivisions 5 and 10 of section 400.00 of the penal law,
as amended by chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, subparagraph (iii) of para-
graph (e) of subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 244 of the laws of
2019, are amended to read as follows:
5. Filing of approved applications. (a) The application for any
license, if granted, shall be filed by the licensing officer with the
clerk of the county of issuance, except that in the city of New York
and, in the counties of Nassau and Suffolk, the licensing officer shall
designate the place of filing in the appropriate division, bureau or
unit of the police department thereof, and in the county of Suffolk the
county clerk is hereby authorized to transfer all records or applica-
tions relating to firearms to the licensing authority of that county.
Except as provided in paragraphs (b) through [(f)] (E) of this subdivi-
sion, the name and address of any person to whom an application for any
license has been granted shall be a public record. Upon application by a
licensee who has changed his place of residence such records or applica-
tions shall be transferred to the appropriate officer at the licensee's
new place of residence. A duplicate copy of such application shall be
filed by the licensing officer in the executive department, division of
state police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the license. The
superintendent of state police may designate that such application shall
be transmitted to the division of state police electronically. In the
event the superintendent of the division of state police determines that
it lacks any of the records required to be filed with the division, it
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01407-01-1
S. 1623 2
may request that such records be provided to it by the appropriate
clerk, department or authority and such clerk, department or authority
shall provide the division with such records. In the event such clerk,
department or authority lacks such records, the division may request the
license holder provide information sufficient to constitute such record
and such license holder shall provide the division with such informa-
tion. Such information shall be limited to the license holder's name,
date of birth, gender, race, residential address, social security number
and firearms possessed by said license holder. Nothing in this subdivi-
sion shall be construed to change the expiration date or term of such
licenses if otherwise provided for in law. Records assembled or
collected for purposes of inclusion in the database established by this
section shall be released pursuant to a court order. Records assembled
or collected for purposes of inclusion in the database created pursuant
to section 400.02 of this chapter shall not be subject to disclosure
pursuant to article six of the public officers law.
(b) Each application for a license pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subdivision shall include, on a separate written form prepared by the
division of state police within thirty days of the effective date of
[the] chapter ONE of the laws of two thousand thirteen[, which amended
this section,] and provided to the applicant at the same time and in the
same manner as the application for a license, an opportunity for the
applicant to request an exception from his or her application informa-
tion becoming public record pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
sion. Such forms, which shall also be made available to individuals who
had applied for or been granted a license prior to the effective date of
[the] chapter ONE of the laws of two thousand thirteen [which amended
this section,] shall notify applicants that, upon discovery that an
applicant knowingly provided false information, such applicant may be
subject to penalties pursuant to section 175.30 of this chapter, and
further, that his or her request for an exception shall be null and
void, provided that written notice containing such determination is
provided to the applicant. Further, such forms shall provide each appli-
cant an opportunity to specify the grounds on which he or she believes
his or her application information should not be publicly disclosed.
These grounds, which shall be identified on the application with a box
beside each for checking, as applicable, by the applicant, shall be as
follows:
(i) the applicant's life or safety may be endangered by disclosure
because:
(A) the applicant is an active or retired police officer, peace offi-
cer, probation officer, parole officer, or corrections officer;
(B) the applicant is a protected person under a currently valid order
of protection;
(C) the applicant is or was a witness in a criminal proceeding involv-
ing a criminal charge;
(D) the applicant is participating or previously participated as a
juror in a criminal proceeding, or is or was a member of a grand jury;
or
(E) the applicant is a spouse, domestic partner or household member of
a person identified in this subparagraph or subparagraph (ii) of this
paragraph, specifying which subparagraph or subparagraphs and clauses
apply.
(ii) the applicant has reason to believe his or her life or safety may
be endangered by disclosure due to reasons stated by the applicant.
S. 1623 3
(iii) the applicant has reason to believe he or she may be subject to
unwarranted harassment upon disclosure of such information.
(c) [Each form provided for recertification pursuant to paragraph (b)
of subdivision ten of this section shall include an opportunity for the
applicant to request an exception from the information provided on such
form becoming public record pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
sion. Such forms shall notify applicants that, upon discovery that an
applicant knowingly provided false information, such applicant may be
subject to penalties pursuant to section 175.30 of this chapter, and
further, that his or her request for an exception shall be null and
void, provided that written notice containing such determination is
provided to the applicant. Further, such forms shall provide each appli-
cant an opportunity to either decline to request the grant or continua-
tion of an exception, or specify the grounds on which he or she believes
his or her information should not be publicly disclosed. These grounds,
which shall be identified in the application with a box beside each for
checking, as applicable, by the applicant, shall be the same as provided
in paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
(d)] Information submitted on the forms described in paragraph (b) of
this subdivision shall be excepted from disclosure and maintained by the
entity retaining such information separate and apart from all other
records.
[(e)] (D) (i) Upon receiving a request for exception from disclosure,
the licensing officer shall grant such exception, unless the request is
determined to be null and void, pursuant to paragraph (b) [or (c)] of
this subdivision.
(ii) A request for an exception from disclosure may be submitted at
any time, including after a license or recertification has been granted.
(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.
[(f)] (E) The information of licensees or applicants for a license
shall not be disclosed to the public during the first one hundred twenty
days following the effective date of [the] chapter ONE of the laws of
two thousand thirteen[, which amended this section]. After such period,
the information of those who had applied for or been granted a license
prior to the preparation of the form for requesting an exception, pursu-
ant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision, may be released only if such
individuals did not file a request for such an exception during the
first sixty days following such preparation; provided, however, that no
information contained in an application for licensure or recertification
shall be disclosed by an entity that has not completed processing any
such requests received during such sixty days.
[(g)] (F) If a request for an exception is determined to be null and
void pursuant to paragraph (b) [or (c)] of this subdivision, an appli-
cant may request review of such determination pursuant to article seven-
ty-eight of the civil practice [laws] LAW and rules. Such proceeding
must commence within thirty days after service of the written notice
S. 1623 4
containing the adverse determination. Notice of the right to commence
such a petition, and the time period therefor, shall be included in the
notice of the determination. Disclosure following such a petition shall
not be made prior to the disposition of such review.
10. License: expiration, certification and renewal. [(a)] Any license
for gunsmith or dealer in firearms and, in the city of New York, any
license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time
pursuant to this section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen
hundred sixty-three and not limited to expire on an earlier date fixed
in the license, shall expire not more than three years after the date of
issuance. In the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, any
license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time
pursuant to this section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen
hundred sixty-three and not limited to expire on an earlier date fixed
in the license, shall expire not more than five years after the date of
issuance; however, in the county of Westchester, any such license shall
be certified prior to the first day of April, two thousand, in accord-
ance with a schedule to be contained in regulations promulgated by the
commissioner of the division of criminal justice services, and every
such license shall be recertified every five years thereafter. For
purposes of this section certification shall mean that the licensee
shall provide to the licensing officer the following information only:
current name, date of birth, current address, and the make, model, cali-
ber and serial number of all firearms currently possessed. Such certif-
ication information shall be filed by the licensing officer in the same
manner as an amendment. Elsewhere than in the city of New York and the
counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, any license to carry or
possess a pistol or revolver, issued at any time pursuant to this
section or prior to the first day of July, nineteen hundred sixty-three
and not previously revoked or cancelled, shall be in force and effect
until revoked as herein provided. Any license not previously cancelled
or revoked shall remain in full force and effect for thirty days beyond
the stated expiration date on such license. Any application to renew a
license that has not previously expired, been revoked or cancelled shall
thereby extend the term of the license until disposition of the applica-
tion by the licensing officer. In the case of a license for gunsmith or
dealer in firearms, in counties having a population of less than two
hundred thousand inhabitants, photographs and fingerprints shall be
submitted on original applications and upon renewal thereafter only at
six year intervals. Upon satisfactory proof that a currently valid
original license has been despoiled, lost or otherwise removed from the
possession of the licensee and upon application containing an additional
photograph of the licensee, the licensing officer shall issue a dupli-
cate license.
[(b) All licensees shall be recertified to the division of state
police every five years thereafter. Any license issued before the effec-
tive date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand thirteen which
added this paragraph shall be recertified by the licensee on or before
January thirty-first, two thousand eighteen, and not less than one year
prior to such date, the state police shall send a notice to all license
holders who have not recertified by such time. Such recertification
shall be in a form as approved by the superintendent of state police,
which shall request the license holder's name, date of birth, gender,
race, residential address, social security number, firearms possessed by
such license holder, email address at the option of the license holder
and an affirmation that such license holder is not prohibited from
S. 1623 5
possessing firearms. The form may be in an electronic form if so desig-
nated by the superintendent of state police. Failure to recertify shall
act as a revocation of such license. If the New York state police
discover as a result of the recertification process that a licensee
failed to provide a change of address, the New York state police shall
not require the licensing officer to revoke such license.]
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
