S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4781
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 14, 2023
                                ___________
 
 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 sepa-
 rately amended by chapters 371 and 669 of the laws of 2022,  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, which,  for  the  purposes  of  this
 article,  shall  mean  having  the  essential character, temperament and
 judgement necessary to be entrusted with a weapon and to use it only  in
 a  manner that does not endanger oneself or others; (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
 a  noncitizen (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
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09507-01-3
              

 S. 4781                             2
 
 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 commit-
 ted 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 crim-
 inal procedure law or substantially similar laws  of  any  other  state,
 section  four  hundred  two or five hundred eight of the correction law,
 section 322.2 or 353.4 of the family court act,  has  not  been  civilly
 confined  in  a secure treatment facility pursuant to article ten of the
 mental hygiene law, or has not been the subject of a report made  pursu-
 ant  to  section  9.46  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,  maintenance and storage of a firearm; (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, provided, however, persons with a license issued  under
 paragraph  (f) of subdivision two of this section prior to the effective
 date of the laws of two thousand twenty-two which amended this paragraph
 shall be required to complete the training required by subdivision nine-
 teen of this section prior to the recertification of such  license;  and
 (iii)  persons applying for a license under paragraph (f) of subdivision
 two of this section on or after the effective date of the chapter of the
 laws of two thousand twenty-two which amended this paragraph  who  shall
 be required to complete the training required under subdivision nineteen
 of  this  section  for  such  license;  (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, incompetency, incapacity, condition or  disease,  he  or
 she  lacks  the  mental  capacity  to  contract or manage his or her own
 affairs; (n)  WHO IS NOT NAMED ON THE NO  FLY  LIST  MAINTAINED  BY  THE
 TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER ADMINISTRERED BY THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVES-
 TIGATION;  (O)  for  a license issued under paragraph (f) of subdivision
 two of this section, that the applicant has not  been  convicted  within
 five  years  of the date of the application of any of the following: (i)
 assault in the third degree, as defined in section 120.00 of this  chap-
 ter;  (ii)  misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, as defined in section
 eleven hundred ninety-two of the  vehicle  and  traffic  law;  or  (iii)
 menacing,  as  defined  in section 120.15 of this chapter; and [(o)] (P)
 for a license issued under paragraph (f)  of  subdivision  two  of  this
 section,  the  applicant shall meet in person with the licensing officer
 for an interview and shall, in addition  to  any  other  information  or
 forms  required by the license application submit to the licensing offi-
 cer the following information: (i) names and contact information for the
 S. 4781                             3
 
 applicant's current spouse, or domestic partner, any other adults resid-
 ing in the applicant's home, including any adult children of the  appli-
 cant,  and  whether  or not there are minors residing, full time or part
 time,  in the applicant's home; (ii) names and contact information of no
 less than four character references who can attest  to  the  applicant's
 good  moral  character  and  that  such applicant has not engaged in any
 acts, or made any statements that suggest they are likely to  engage  in
 conduct that would result in harm to themselves or others; (iii) certif-
 ication  of  completion of the training required in subdivision nineteen
 of this section; (iv) a list of former and current social media accounts
 of the applicant from the past three years to  confirm  the  information
 regarding  the  applicants character and conduct as required in subpara-
 graph (ii) of this paragraph; and (v) such other information required by
 the licensing officer that is reasonably necessary and  related  to  the
 review of the licensing application.
   §  2.  Subdivision 4 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as amended by
 chapter 371 of the laws of 2022, 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
 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 shall be  forwarded  to  the  investigating
 officer  and  shall  be made without unnecessary delay. Thereafter, such
 division shall notify the licensing officer and  the  executive  depart-
 ment,  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 investi-
 gation, as the case may be, shall be forwarded to that bureau  at  Wash-
 ington  with  a  request  that  the  files of the bureau be searched and
 S. 4781                             4

 notification of the results of the search be made to  the  investigating
 police  authority, INCLUDING THE NO FLY LIST MAINTAINED BY THE TERRORIST
 SCREENING CENTER. 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  shall
 remain  on file with the investigating police authority. No such finger-
 prints 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  investigation, the police
 authority shall report the results  to  the  licensing  officer  without
 unnecessary delay.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.