Requires individuals to complete a five-hour firearm, rifle, and shotgun safety course before purchasing a firearm, rifle, shotgun, or ammunition therefor; directs the commissioner of criminal justice services to develop such safety course.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8262
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 25, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MEEKS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to requiring individuals to
complete a five-hour firearm, rifle, and shotgun safety course before
purchasing a firearm, rifle, shotgun, or ammunition therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 400.04 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 400.04 Firearm, rifle, and shotgun safety course.
4 1. The commissioner of criminal justice services shall develop a five-
5 hour firearm, rifle, and shotgun safety course designed to educate indi-
6 viduals on the safe and legal storage, use, and transportation of
7 firearms, rifles, and shotguns in New York state.
8 2. The commissioner of criminal justice services shall develop a proc-
9 ess whereby a dealer in firearms, gunsmith, operator or employee of an
10 indoor or outdoor shooting range that is authorized by law to operate as
11 such, gun show operator, firearm exhibitor, or a law enforcement agency
12 or employee thereof may apply to be an authorized safety course instruc-
13 tor.
14 3. An authorized safety course instructor shall issue a certificate of
15 completion to each individual who completes a safety course administered
16 by such authorized safety course instructor within a reasonable time
17 following the completion of such safety course. Such certificate of
18 completion shall contain the name, date of birth, and address, of the
19 individual to whom such certificate of completion is issued. The author-
20 ized safety course instructor issuing a certificate of completion to an
21 individual shall affirm upon such certificate of completion, under the
22 penalties of perjury, that the individual to whom such certificate of
23 completion is issued has completed a safety course administered by such
24 authorized safety course instructor, in its entirety.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11904-02-1
A. 8262 2
1 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no dealer in firearms,
2 firearm exhibitor, or any other person, firm, partnership, corporation
3 or company otherwise authorized to sell firearms, rifles, and/or shot-
4 guns in New York state shall sell a firearm, rifle, or shotgun to any
5 individual unless such individual provides such seller a certificate of
6 completion issued in his or her name and endorsed and affirmed under
7 penalties of perjury by an authorized safety course instructor.
8 5. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have
9 the following meanings:
10 (a) "Safety course" means the firearm, rifle, and shotgun safety
11 course developed by the commissioner of criminal justice services pursu-
12 ant to subdivision one of this section.
13 (b) "Authorized safety course instructor" means an individual or enti-
14 ty authorized by the commissioner of criminal justice services to admin-
15 ister the safety course and issue certificates of completion.
16 (c) "Certificate of completion" means a certificate verifying that an
17 individual has completed a safety course with an authorized safety
18 course instructor.
19 (d) "Law enforcement agency" means any agency or department of any
20 municipality, any police district, or any agency, department, commis-
21 sion, authority or public benefit corporation of the state of New York
22 employing a police officer or police officers as that term is defined in
23 paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (j), (k), (l), (o), (p), (s),
24 and (u) of subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal
25 procedure law.
26 (e) "Gun show operator" shall have the same meaning as defined by
27 section eight hundred ninety-five of the general business law.
28 (f) "Firearm exhibitor" shall have the same meaning as defined by
29 section eight hundred ninety-five of the general business law.
30 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 400.03 of the penal law, as added by
31 chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
32 3. [No later than thirty days after the superintendent of the state
33 police certifies that the statewide license and record database estab-
34 lished pursuant to section 400.02 of this article is operational for the
35 purposes of this section, a] A dealer in firearms licensed pursuant to
36 section 400.00 of this article, or a seller of ammunition as defined in
37 subdivision twenty-four of section 265.00 of this chapter shall not
38 transfer any ammunition to any other person who is not a dealer in
39 firearms as defined in subdivision nine of such section 265.00 or a
40 seller of ammunition as defined in subdivision twenty-four of section
41 265.00 of this chapter, unless:
42 (a) before the completion of the transfer, the licensee or seller
43 contacts the statewide license and record database and provides the
44 database with information sufficient to identify such dealer or seller,
45 transferee based on information on the transferee's identification docu-
46 ment as defined in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, as well as the
47 amount, calibre, manufacturer's name and serial number, if any, of such
48 ammunition;
49 (b) the system provides the licensee or seller with a unique identifi-
50 cation number; [and]
51 (c) the transferor has verified the identity of the transferee by
52 examining a valid state identification document of the transferee issued
53 by the department of motor vehicles or if the transferee is not a resi-
54 dent of the state of New York, a valid identification document issued by
55 the transferee's state or country of residence containing a photograph
56 of the transferee; and
A. 8262 3
1 (d) if the transferee is not a dealer in firearms or a seller of ammu-
2 nition as such terms are defined by section 265.00 of this chapter, such
3 transferee provides the transferor a certificate of completion issued in
4 his or her name and endorsed and affirmed under penalties of perjury by
5 an authorized safety course instructor pursuant to section 400.04 of
6 this article.
7 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
8 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate-
9 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
10 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
11 authorized to be made and completed by the commissioner of criminal
12 justice services on or before such effective date.
