S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6535
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              March 17, 2025
                                ___________
 
 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.
                                                            LBD06335-01-5
              

 S. 6535                             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] SUCH APPLICANT'S citizenship; (i) who has stated whether [he or
 she]  SUCH  APPLICANT  has ever suffered any mental illness; (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  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 pursuant 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 inel-
 igibility 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  certif-
 icate  of  completion  issued  in [his or her] SUCH APPLICANT'S 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; (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 nineteen 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] SUCH APPLICANT pursuant to  any  provision  of  state  law,
 based  on  a determination that as a result of marked subnormal intelli-
 gence, mental illness, incompetency, incapacity, condition  or  disease,
 [he  or  she]  SUCH  APPLICANT  lacks the mental capacity to contract or
 manage [his or her] SUCH APPLICANT'S own affairs; (n)  WHO IS NOT  NAMED
 ON THE NO FLY LIST MAINTAINED BY THE TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER ADMINIS-
 TERED  BY  THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION; (O) for a license issued
 under paragraph (f) of subdivision two of this section, that the  appli-
 cant  has not been convicted within five years of the date of the appli-
 cation of any of the following: (i) assault  in  the  third  degree,  as
 defined  in  section  120.00  of  this chapter; (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  para-
 graph  (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
 S. 6535                             3
 
 application submit to the licensing officer the  following  information:
 (i) names and contact information for the applicant's current spouse, or
 domestic  partner,  any  other  adults residing in the applicant's home,
 including  any adult children of the applicant, 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 refer-
 ences  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) certification of completion of the train-
 ing 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  charac-
 ter  and conduct as required in subparagraph (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 applica-
 tion.
   §  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-
 S. 6535                             4
 
 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
 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] SUCH PEACE OFFICER'S 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 investi-
 gation, the police authority shall report the results to  the  licensing
 officer without unnecessary delay.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.