STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         3841--A

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 28, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. ABINANTI, GOTTFRIED, DICKENS, DINOWITZ, FERNAN-
          DEZ, McDONOUGH, FAHY, PICHARDO, SAYEGH, STIRPE, LAVINE, COLTON, GALEF,
          WILLIAMS, HYNDMAN, TAYLOR, FALL, GRIFFIN, DAVILA,  STECK,  SMULLEN  --
          Multi-Sponsored  by -- M. of A. NOLAN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Codes --  committee  discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee

        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:

     1    Section 1. Subdivision 1 of  section  400.00  of  the  penal  law,  as
     2  amended  by  chapter  1 of the laws of 2013, paragraph (c) as amended by
     3  chapter 60 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
     4    1. Eligibility. No license shall be issued or renewed pursuant to this
     5  section except by the licensing officer, and then  only  after  investi-
     6  gation  and  finding  that  all statements in a proper application for a
     7  license are true. No license shall be issued or renewed  except  for  an
     8  applicant  (a) twenty-one years of age or older, provided, however, that
     9  where such applicant has  been  honorably  discharged  from  the  United
    10  States  army,  navy,  marine  corps,  air  force  or coast guard, or the
    11  national guard of the state of New York, no such age  restriction  shall
    12  apply;  (b)  of  good  moral  character;  (c) who has not been convicted
    13  anywhere of a felony or a serious offense or who is not the  subject  of
    14  an outstanding warrant of arrest issued upon the alleged commission of a
    15  felony  or  serious offense; (d) who is not a fugitive from justice; (e)
    16  who is not an unlawful user of or addicted to any  controlled  substance
    17  as  defined  in section 21 U.S.C. 802; (f) who being an alien (i) is not
    18  illegally or unlawfully in the United States or (ii) has not been admit-
    19  ted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa subject to the excep-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00709-03-1

        A. 3841--A                          2

     1  tion in 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2); (g) who has not been  discharged  from  the
     2  Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; (h) who, having been a citi-
     3  zen  of the United States, has not renounced his or her citizenship; (i)
     4  who  has  stated whether he or she has ever suffered any mental illness;
     5  (j) who has not been involuntarily committed to  a  facility  under  the
     6  jurisdiction  of  an office of the department of mental hygiene pursuant
     7  to article nine or fifteen of the  mental  hygiene  law,  article  seven
     8  hundred  thirty or section 330.20 of the criminal procedure law, section
     9  four hundred two or five hundred eight of the  correction  law,  section
    10  322.2 or 353.4 of the family court act, or has not been civilly confined
    11  in  a  secure  treatment  facility pursuant to article ten of the mental
    12  hygiene law; (k) who has not had a license revoked or who is not under a
    13  suspension or ineligibility order issued pursuant to the  provisions  of
    14  section  530.14  of  the criminal procedure law or section eight hundred
    15  forty-two-a of the family court act; (l) in the county  of  Westchester,
    16  who  has  successfully  completed  a  firearms safety course and test as
    17  evidenced by a certificate of completion issued in his or her  name  and
    18  endorsed  and  affirmed under the penalties of perjury by a duly author-
    19  ized instructor, except that: (i) persons who are  honorably  discharged
    20  from  the  United  States army, navy, marine corps or coast guard, or of
    21  the national guard of the state of New York,  and  produce  evidence  of
    22  official  qualification  in  firearms during the term of service are not
    23  required to have completed those  hours  of  a  firearms  safety  course
    24  pertaining  to the safe use, carrying, possession, maintenance and stor-
    25  age of a firearm; and (ii) persons who were licensed to possess a pistol
    26  or revolver prior to the  effective  date  of  this  paragraph  are  not
    27  required  to  have  completed a firearms safety course and test; (m) who
    28  has not had a  guardian  appointed  for  him  or  her  pursuant  to  any
    29  provision  of  state  law,  based on a determination that as a result of
    30  marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incapacity, condition  or
    31  disease,  he  or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his
    32  or her own affairs; [and] (n) who is not named on the No Fly List  main-
    33  tained  by  the  Terrorist  Screening Center administered by the Federal
    34  Bureau of Investigation; and (o) concerning whom no  good  cause  exists
    35  for the denial of the license. No person shall engage in the business of
    36  gunsmith or dealer in firearms unless licensed pursuant to this section.
    37  An  applicant  to engage in such business shall also be a citizen of the
    38  United States, more than twenty-one years of age and maintain a place of
    39  business in the city or county where the license  is  issued.  For  such
    40  business, if the applicant is a firm or partnership, each member thereof
    41  shall  comply with all of the requirements set forth in this subdivision
    42  and if the applicant is a corporation, each  officer  thereof  shall  so
    43  comply.
    44    §  2.  Subdivision 4 of section 400.00 of the penal law, as amended by
    45  chapter 242 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
    46    4. Investigation. Before a license is issued or renewed,  there  shall
    47  be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the
    48  duly  constituted police authorities of the locality where such applica-
    49  tion is made, including but not limited to such records as may be acces-
    50  sible to the division of state police or division  of  criminal  justice
    51  services  pursuant  to section 400.02 of this article. For that purpose,
    52  the records of the  appropriate  office  of  the  department  of  mental
    53  hygiene  concerning  previous or present mental illness of the applicant
    54  shall be available for inspection by the investigating  officer  of  the
    55  police  authority.  Where the applicant is domiciled in a foreign state,
    56  the investigation shall include inquiry of the foreign state for records

        A. 3841--A                          3

     1  concerning the previous or present mental illness of the applicant, and,
     2  to the extent necessary for inspection by the investigating officer, the
     3  applicant shall execute a waiver of confidentiality of  such  record  in
     4  such form as may be required by the foreign state. In order to ascertain
     5  any  previous  criminal record, the investigating officer shall take the
     6  fingerprints and physical descriptive  data  in  quadruplicate  of  each
     7  individual by whom the application is signed and verified. Two copies of
     8  such  fingerprints  shall  be  taken on standard fingerprint cards eight
     9  inches square, and one copy may be taken on a  card  supplied  for  that
    10  purpose  by the federal bureau of investigation; provided, however, that
    11  in the case of a corporate applicant that  has  already  been  issued  a
    12  dealer  in firearms license and seeks to operate a firearm dealership at
    13  a second or subsequent location, the original fingerprints on  file  may
    14  be  used  to  ascertain  any criminal record in the second or subsequent
    15  application unless any of the corporate officers have changed since  the
    16  prior  application, in which case the new corporate officer shall comply
    17  with procedures governing an initial application for such license.  When
    18  completed,  one  standard card shall be forwarded to and retained by the
    19  division of criminal justice services in the  executive  department,  at
    20  Albany.  A search of the files of such division and written notification
    21  of the results of the search to the investigating officer shall be  made
    22  without  unnecessary  delay.  Thereafter, such division shall notify the
    23  licensing officer  and  the  executive  department,  division  of  state
    24  police,  Albany,  of  any criminal record of the applicant filed therein
    25  subsequent to the search of its files. A second standard  card,  or  the
    26  one supplied by the federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be,
    27  shall  be forwarded to that bureau at Washington with a request that the
    28  files of the bureau, including the No Fly List maintained by the Terror-
    29  ist Screening Center, be searched and notification of the results of the
    30  search be made to the investigating police authority. Of  the  remaining
    31  two fingerprint cards, one shall be filed with the executive department,
    32  division  of state police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the
    33  license, and the other remain on  file  with  the  investigating  police
    34  authority.  No  such  fingerprints  may be inspected by any person other
    35  than a peace officer, who is acting  pursuant  to  his  or  her  special
    36  duties,  or a police officer, except on order of a judge or justice of a
    37  court of record either upon notice to the licensee or without notice, as
    38  the judge or justice may deem appropriate. Upon completion of the inves-
    39  tigation, the police authority shall report the results to the licensing
    40  officer without unnecessary delay.
    41    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.