NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A53A
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the penal law, the general business
law and the environmental conservation law, in relation to the safe
storage of rifles, shotguns, or firearms; and to repeal certain
provisions of the penal law relating thereto
PURPOSE:
To provide regulations for safe storage of firearms in order to prevent
injury and death, particularly of children, by unintentional access,
discharge and use of weapons.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: The act shall be known as "Nicholas's law." Recites the
legislative findings.
Section 2: Amends the penal law to add new section 265.44 to provide the
definition of "safe storage depository."
Section 3: Repeals section 265.45 of the penal law and adds three new
sections as follows:
§ 265.45 defines failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm when a person owns or has custody of a rifle, shotgun,
firearm or antique firearm and leaves such rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm out of his or her immediate possession or control with-
out having first securely locked such rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique
firearm in an appropriate safe storage depository or rendered it incapa-
ble of being fired by use of a gun locking device appropriate to that
weapon; provided that actual possession of a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm by the holder of a valid New York hunting license or
permit issued pursuant to article 11 of the Environmental Conservation
Law and contemporaneously used in accordance with such law shall not be
governed by this section. Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun,
firearm or antique firearm is a violation.
§ 265.46 defines failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm in the second degree when a person commits the crime of
failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm as
defined in section 265.45 of the penal law and either: (i) at the time
of the commission of such crime resides with another individual who such
person knows or has reason to know is prohibited from possessing a
firearm pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(1), (4), (8) or (9); or
(ii) has been previously convicted of failure to safely store a rifle,
shotgun, firearm or antique firearm within the preceding 10 years under
this section or section 265.45 or 265.47. Failure to safely store a
rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the first degree is a
class A misdemeanor.
§ 265.47 defines failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm in the first degree when a person commits the offense of
failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm as
defined in section 265.45 and as a result of such failure to safely
store, such rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm is obtained by an
unauthorized person and discharges causing physical injury to any other
person. Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique
firearm in the first degree is a class E felony.
Section 4: Amends the penal law to add three new sections as follows:
§ 265.49 defines failure to provide notice in the second degree as the
failure, in the sale or transfer of any rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm to another person, to provide the transferee at the time
of sale or transfer, with a gun locking device that is capable of
preventing the particular weapon from firing or a safe storage deposito-
ry and a copy of the warning set forth in the section in conspicuous and
legible type. Failure to provide notice in the second degree is a
violation.
§ 265.51 defines failure to provide notice in the first degree as
committing the offense of failure to provide notice in the second degree
and the person has been previously convicted of the offense of failure
to provide notice in the second degree within the preceding 10 years.
Failure to provide notice in the first degree is a class B misdemeanor.
§ 265.53 provides that when a person has a prior conviction for failure
to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the
second degree or failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or
antique firearm safely in the first degree, upon a second or subsequent
conviction of either such offense, the district attorney or other prose-
cuting authority who obtained such conviction shall provide notice to
both the division of state police and, if such person possesses a New
York state issued handgun license, the pertinent licensing officer who
currently exercises legal authority over such person's license. The
notice shall include the information set forth in this section.
Section 5: Adds new subdivision 18 to § 400.00 of the penal law to
require the licensing officer to issue a notice set forth in the subdi-
vision in conspicuous and legible type upon the issuance or renewal of a
license.
Section 6: Amends subdivision 2 of § 396-ee of the general business law,
as added by chapter 189 of the laws of 2000, to provide the text of the
notice that every person, firm or corporation engaged in the retail
business of selling rifles, shotguns, firearms or antique firearms must
post conspicuously in bold print in the place where such rifles, shot-
guns, firearms or antique firearms are displayed or transferred to a
purchaser.
Section 7: Amends section 11-0713 of the environmental conservation law
by adding a new subdivision 7 to require the issuing officer of a hunt-
ing license or muzzle-loading privilege to issue therewith a notice set
forth in said subdivision in conspicuous and legible type.
Section 8: Provides for severability if a word, phrase, clause,
sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by a
court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid.
Section 9: Provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2001, legislation was passed to require the purchase of a safety
locking device with the purchase or transfer of a firearm. In 2013, the
SAFE Act was enacted, which included a provision that requires safe
storage of a firearm; however, that provision applies only to a person
who owns or is custodian of a rifle, shotgun or firearm who resides with
an individual who such person knows or has reason to know is prohibited
from possessing a firearm under specific provisions of federal law. And
the SAFE Act does not provide for the safe storage of firearms in homes
when and where children are present. This legislation would provide for
criminal penalties for any person who stores or otherwise leaves a
rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm out of his or her immediate
possession or control without having first securely locked such rifle,
shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in an appropriate safe storage
depository or rendered it incapable of being fired by using an appropri-
ate gun locking device.
In 2011, firearms killed 997 New Yorkers. Of these, 466 deaths were
homicides (47%), 505 were suicides (51%), 12 were unintentional (1%) and
14 were legal (1%). Safe storage is one way to help reduce the firearm
death and injury rate in New York State.
Safe storage may reduce theft and use of firearms in crime. It is esti-
mated that each year in the United States, half a million firearms are
stolen.
Safe storage is particularly important in keeping firearms out of the
hands of children and young people. A 2005 study of adult firearm stor-
age practices found that almost 2 million children under age 18 live in
homes with easily accessible loaded and/or unlocked guns. 116 Pediatrics
e3701-372 (Sept. 2005). We have learned that poorly stored guns increase
the risk of accidental gun deaths. Reducing-Gun Violence in America:
Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis, Webster OW, Vernick JS, ed.
2013, p. 13. Moreover, studies have shown that keeping firearms locked
and unloaded reduced unintentional injury in homes with children and
teens. 293 JAMA 707, 711-713(2005). Each year in New York State, on
average 210 children ages 19 years and younger are treated at a hospital
because of an unintentional firearm injury, and 75 are injured severely
enough to be hospitalized. Two children in this age group are killed
each year in an unintentional firearm incident. A gun kept in the home
is 43 times more likely to be used to kill someone who the family knows
than to kill someone in self-defense.
(http://www.health.ny.gov/prevention/injury_prevention/children/fact_
sheets/birth-19_years/firearminjuries_birth-19_years.htm)
This bill is named for 12-year old Nicholas Naumkin, who was shot in the
head by his 12-year-old friend at his friend's home in Wilton, New York.
His friend was playing with his father's gun when he shot Nicholas.
Nicholas died the following day, on December 23, 2010. A middle school
student in Saratoga Springs, Nicholas was a talented young man with a
passion for acting, drawing and computer animation.
In 2011, in New York, 389 children under the age of 18 were hospitalized
with a nonfatal gun injury. Of these injuries, 314 were due to an
assault and 60 were accidental (National Inpatient Sample, 2011). In
2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control (WISQARS), 116 chil-
dren under the age of 19 were killed by guns in New York - 93 were homi-
cides, 13 were suicides and ten were undetermined.
Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws, which include provisions similar to
those contained in this legislation, have been associated with lower
rates of unintentional gun deaths among children. Regulating Guns in
America: An Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of Federal, State and
Selected Local Gun Laws, p. 233, published by Legal Community Against
Violence, 2008. Currently, 27 states and the District of Columbia have
enacted CAP laws, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia. Studies have found CAP
laws to be effective in reducing accidental shootings of children by as
much as 23%.
Preventing children from obtaining access to firearms by requiring safe
storage will enable us to prevent child accidents, suicides and school
incidents. First, safe storage can prevent those tragic, accidents where
a child finds a loaded firearm and accidentally shoots another child.
Safe storage can also reduce suicides, particularly by teens who may
reach for an available firearm in a moment of distress. Studies indicate
mere presence of an available firearm the house increases teen suicide.
Many of these firearms came from homes where they were unlocked. A 1998
report issued by the State Department of Health indicated that a
substantial number of firearm owners in New York State do not properly
secure their firearms. The report, Firearm Ownership and Safe Storage in
New York State, concluded 38% reported some form of unsafe storage,
where unsafe storage is defined as either failing to lock all firearms
or to secure ammunition separately in a locked place.
The intent of this legislation is to encourage safe firearm storage
before incidents occur, as in the tragic accident with Nicholas Naumkin.
Although we have been a leader in enacting strong gun safety laws, we do
not have CAP and safe storage laws critical to prevent gun accidents.
Safe storage laws save lives.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.8293-A, 2013 referred to codes and 2014 amended and recommitted to
codes. Same as S.7822, 2014 referred to codes. Similar to A.3221, 2013
and 2014 referred to codes. Same as S.1804, 2013 and 2014 referred to
codes. Similar to A.381, 2011 and 2012 referred to codes. Same as
S.4538, 2011 and 2012 referred to codes. A.1094, 2009 and 2010 referred
to codes. A.7303, 2007 and 2008 referred to codes. Same as S.7475, 2008
referred to codes. A.2083, 2005 and 2006 referred to codes. A.4555, 2003
and 2004 referred to codes.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have becomes a law.
