Includes sharing, making available, selling, exchanging, giving or disposing of a community gun as an element of certain criminal acts including criminal facilitation and criminal sale of a firearm.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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4689
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 5, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CLARK, SIMOTAS, JAFFEE -- Multi-Sponsored by --
M. of A. COOK, ENGLEBRIGHT, GOTTFRIED -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to community guns and the
criminal sale of a firearm in the first and third degrees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 115.00 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 422
2 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 115.00 Criminal facilitation in the fourth degree.
4 A person is guilty of criminal facilitation in the fourth degree
5 when[,]:
6 1. believing it probable that he or she is rendering aid:
7 [1.] a. to a person who intends to commit a crime, he or she engages
8 in conduct which provides such person with means or opportunity for the
9 commission thereof and which in fact aids such person to commit a felo-
10 ny; or
11 [2.] b. to a person under sixteen years of age who intends to engage
12 in conduct which would constitute a crime, he or she, being over eigh-
13 teen years of age, engages in conduct which provides such person with
14 means or opportunity for the commission thereof and which in fact aids
15 such person to commit a crime; or
16 2. he or she being not authorized pursuant to New York state law to
17 possess a firearm shares, makes available, sells, exchanges, gives or
18 disposes of a community gun, or assists any person in any such activity,
19 and such community gun in fact aids a person to commit a felony, includ-
20 ing, but not limited to, a felony set forth in article two hundred
21 sixty-five of this part; or
22 3. he or she, being over eighteen years of age and not authorized
23 pursuant to New York state law to possess a firearm, shares, makes
24 available, sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of a community gun, or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08638-01-5
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1 assists any person in any such activity, and such community gun in fact
2 aids a person under sixteen years of age to commit a crime, including,
3 but not limited to, a crime set forth in article two hundred sixty-five
4 of this part.
5 Criminal facilitation in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor.
6 § 2. Section 115.01 of the penal law, as added by chapter 422 of the
7 laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
8 § 115.01 Criminal facilitation in the third degree.
9 A person is guilty of criminal facilitation in the third degree, when:
10 1. believing it probable that he or she is rendering aid to a person
11 under sixteen years of age who intends to engage in conduct that would
12 constitute a felony, he or she, being over eighteen years of age,
13 engages in conduct which provides such person with means or opportunity
14 for the commission thereof and which in fact aids such person to commit
15 a felony; or
16 2. he or she, being over eighteen years of age and not authorized
17 pursuant to New York state law to possess a firearm, shares, makes
18 available, sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of a community gun, or
19 assists any person in any such activity, and such community gun in fact
20 aids a person under sixteen years of age to commit a felony, including,
21 but not limited to, a felony set forth in article two hundred sixty-five
22 of this part.
23 Criminal facilitation in the third degree is a class E felony.
24 § 3. Section 115.05 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 422 of the
25 laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
26 § 115.05 Criminal facilitation in the second degree.
27 A person is guilty of criminal facilitation in the second degree
28 when[,]:
29 1. believing it probable that he or she is rendering aid to a person
30 who intends to commit a class A felony, he or she engages in conduct
31 which provides such person with means or opportunity for the commission
32 thereof and which in fact aids such person to commit such class A
33 felony; or
34 2. he or she being not authorized pursuant to New York state law to
35 possess a firearm shares, makes available, sells, exchanges, gives or
36 disposes of a community gun, or assists any person in any such activity,
37 and such community gun in fact aids a person to commit a class A felony.
38 Criminal facilitation in the second degree is a class C felony.
39 § 4. Section 115.08 of the penal law, as added by chapter 422 of the
40 laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:
41 § 115.08 Criminal facilitation in the first degree.
42 A person is guilty of criminal facilitation in the first degree
43 when[,]:
44 1. believing it probable that he or she is rendering aid to a person
45 under sixteen years of age who intends to engage in conduct that would
46 constitute a class A felony, he or she, being over eighteen years of
47 age, engages in conduct which provides such person with means or oppor-
48 tunity for the commission thereof and which in fact aids such person to
49 commit such a class A felony; or
50 2. he or she, being over eighteen years of age and not authorized
51 pursuant to New York state law to possess a firearm, shares, makes
52 available, sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of a community gun, or
53 assists any person in any such activity, and such community gun in fact
54 aids a person under sixteen years of age to commit a class A felony.
55 Criminal facilitation in the first degree is a class B felony.
56 § 5. Section 115.15 of the penal law is amended to read as follows:
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1 § 115.15 Criminal facilitation; corroboration.
2 A person shall not be convicted of criminal facilitation upon the
3 testimony of a person who has committed the felony charged to have been
4 facilitated unless such testimony be corroborated by such other evidence
5 as tends to connect the defendant with such facilitation; provided that
6 this section shall not apply to a conviction of criminal facilitation
7 for sharing, making available, selling, exchanging, giving or disposing
8 of a community gun, or assisting any person in such activity.
9 § 6. Section 115.20 of the penal law, as added by chapter 1 of the
10 laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
11 § 115.20 Criminal facilitation; definitions and construction.
12 [For purposes of this article, such conduct shall include, but not be
13 limited to, making available, selling, exchanging, giving or disposing
14 of a community gun, which in fact, aids a person to commit a crime.
15 "Community gun" shall mean a firearm that is actually shared, made
16 available, sold, exchanged, given or disposed of among or between two or
17 more persons, at least one of whom is not authorized pursuant to law to
18 possess such firearm. "Dispose of" shall have the same meaning as that
19 term is defined in section 265.00 of this chapter. "Share" and "make
20 available" shall, in the case of a firearm, be construed to include
21 knowingly placing such firearm at a location accessible and known to one
22 or more other persons.]
23 As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following
24 meanings:
25 1. "Community gun" shall mean a firearm that is shared, made avail-
26 able, sold, exchanged, given or disposed of among or between two or more
27 persons, at least one of whom is not authorized pursuant to law to
28 possess a firearm.
29 2. "Dispose of" shall have the same meaning as provided in section
30 265.00 of this part.
31 3. "Share" and "make available" shall, in the case of a firearm, be
32 construed to include, but shall not be limited to, placing such firearm
33 at a location accessible and known to one or more other persons.
34 § 7. Section 265.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi-
35 vision 26 to read as follows:
36 26. "Community gun" shall have the definition set forth in section
37 115.20 of this part, and the terms "share" and "make available" shall be
38 construed as set forth in such section.
39 § 8. Section 265.11 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 764 of the
40 laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
41 § 265.11 Criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree.
42 A person is guilty of criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree
43 when such person is not authorized pursuant to law to possess a firearm
44 and such person unlawfully either:
45 (1) sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of a firearm or large capacity
46 ammunition feeding device to another person; [or]
47 (2) possesses a firearm with the intent to sell it; or
48 (3) share or makes available a community gun.
49 Criminal sale of a firearm in the third degree is a class D felony.
50 § 9. Section 265.13 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 764 of the
51 laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:
52 § 265.13 Criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree.
53 A person is guilty of criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree
54 when such person:
55 (1) unlawfully sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of to another ten
56 or more firearms; [or]
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1 (2) unlawfully sells, exchanges, gives or disposes of to another
2 person or persons a total of ten or more firearms in a period of not
3 more than one year; or
4 (3) being not authorized by New York state law to possess a firearm
5 unlawfully shares, makes available, sells, exchanges, gives, or disposes
6 of a firearm to another person, and, within three years thereafter, the
7 firearm is discharged and causes the death of another person. The
8 provisions of this subdivision shall only apply when such firearm was
9 discharged intentionally, recklessly or with criminal negligence,
10 provided that the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply when
11 such firearm was discharged intentionally for purposes of committing
12 suicide. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "firearm" shall
13 include but not be limited to a community gun.
14 Criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree is a class B felony.
15 § 10. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day
16 after it shall have become a law.