NYS leaders introduce legislation following mass shootings

State leaders have responded to mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas by introducing 10 bills in both the Assembly and Senate that would tighten New York's gun laws and close loopholes. Among the proposals announced on Tuesday is a requirement for information sharing between state, local and federal agencies when guns are used in crimes, require microstamping for new guns and making threatening mass harm a crime. Along among the measures is raising the legal age to 21 for the purchase of semiautomatic rifles.

The legislative package includes:

A.1023-A (Paulin)/S.4970-A (Kavanagh)
Requires all state and local law enforcement agencies to report seized or recovered guns to the criminal gun clearinghouse; participate in ATFs collective data sharing program; test-fire seized or recovered guns for national integrated Ballistic Information Network; and, enter the make, model, caliber, and serial number of the gun into the national crime information center. Also requires gun dealers to implement a security plan for securing firearms, rifles and shotguns; prohibit persons under eighteen and not accompanied by a parent from the certain locations of a gun dealer's premises; provide training to all employees on the conduct of firearm, rifle, and shotgun transfers, including identification of and response to illegal purchases; adhere to record keeping requirements; and require the State police to conduct inspections of gun dealers every three years.

A.6716-A (Wallace)/S89-B (Kaminsky):
Creates the crimes of making a threat of mass harm and aggravated making a threat of mass harm.

A.7926-A (Rosenthal, L)/S.4116-A (Hoylman):
Requires DCJS to certify or decline to certify that microstamping-enabled pistols are technologically viable and if certified as viable, to establish programs and processes for the implementation of such technology; and, establishes the crime of the unlawful sale of a non-microstamping-enabled firearm

A7865-A (Fahy)/ S.4511-A (Kaplan):
Requires social media networks in New York to provide a clear and concise policy regarding how they would respond to incidents of hateful conduct on their platform and maintain easily accessible mechanisms for reporting hateful conduct on those platforms

A.10428-A (People-Stokes)/S.9229-A (Hoylman):
Eliminates the grandfathering of large capacity ammunition feeding devices that were lawfully possessed prior to the enactment of the Safe Act or manufactured prior to 1994.

A. 10497 (Jacobson)/S.9407-B (Kavanagh):
Makes unlawful the purchase and sale of body vests for anyone who is not engaged in an eligible profession. Eligible professions include law enforcement officers and other professions designated by the Department of State in consultation with other agencies. Also requires that any sale of a body vest be done in person.

A.10501 (Meeks)/S. 9465 (Bailey)
Creates a new Task Force on Social Media and Violent Extremism in the Attorney General's office to study and investigate the role of social media companies in promoting and facilitating violent extremism and domestic terrorism online.

A. 10502 (Cahill)/S. 9113-A (Skoufis):
Expands who may file an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) petition to include health care practitioners who have examined the individual within the last six months; requires police and district attorneys to file ERPO petitions upon credible information that an individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to himself, herself or others; requires the State Police and the Municipal Police Training Council to create and disseminate policies and procedures to identify when an ERPO petition may be warranted; amends the firearm licensing statute to make it clear that when an individual has been reported by a mental health practitioner and a county mental health commissioner has concurred with such practitioner that the individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to themself or others, such report is considered in determining whether or not to issue a firearm license to the individual; and, expands the mental health practitioners who can make such reports.

A10503 (Jackson)/S. 9458 (Thomas):
Requires that an individual obtain a license prior purchasing a semiautomatic rifle. This is prospective and applies to purchases made on and after the effective date.

A. 10504 (Burgos)/S. 9456 (Sepulveda)
Expands the definition of a "firearm" to include any weapon not defined in the Penal Law that is designed or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by action of an explosive. This is intended to capture firearms that have been modified to be shot from an arm brace, which are evading our current definitions of firearms and rifles.