Establishes a license for a pistol or revolver shall be issued to have and carry concealed, without regard to employment or place of employment and without judicial discretion on whether proper cause exists for the issuance thereof; requires the police authority in the locality where an application is made for a license to carry, possess, repair and dispose of firearms to conduct a search of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3478
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 19, 2009
___________
Introduced by Sen. STACHOWSKI -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to licenses 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. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 2 and subdivision 4 of section
2 400.00 of the penal law, paragraph (f) of subdivision 2 as amended by
3 chapter 189 of the laws of 2000 and subdivision 4 as amended by chapter
4 331 of the laws of 2005, are amended to read as follows:
5 (f) have and carry concealed, without regard to employment or place of
6 possession[, by any person when proper cause exists for the issuance
7 thereof]; and
8 4. Investigation. Before a license is issued or renewed, there shall
9 be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the
10 duly constituted police authorities of the locality where such applica-
11 tion is made. For that purpose, the records of the appropriate office of
12 the department of mental hygiene concerning previous or present mental
13 illness of the applicant shall be available for inspection by the inves-
14 tigating officer of the police authority. The police authority in the
15 locality where the application is made shall conduct a search of the
16 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). In order to
17 ascertain any previous criminal record, the investigating officer shall
18 take the fingerprints and physical descriptive data in quadruplicate of
19 each individual by whom the application is signed and verified. Two
20 copies of such fingerprints shall be taken on standard fingerprint cards
21 eight inches square, and one copy may be taken on a card supplied for
22 that purpose by the federal bureau of investigation; provided, however,
23 that in the case of a corporate applicant that has already been issued a
24 dealer in firearms license and seeks to operate a firearm dealership at
25 a second or subsequent location, the original fingerprints on file may
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08936-01-9
S. 3478 2
1 be used to ascertain any criminal record in the second or subsequent
2 application unless any of the corporate officers have changed since the
3 prior application, in which case the new corporate officer shall comply
4 with procedures governing an initial application for such license. When
5 completed, one standard card shall be forwarded to and retained by the
6 division of criminal justice services in the executive department, at
7 Albany. A search of the files of such division and written notification
8 of the results of the search to the investigating officer shall be made
9 without unnecessary delay. Thereafter, such division shall notify the
10 licensing officer and the executive department, division of state
11 police, Albany, of any criminal record of the applicant filed therein
12 subsequent to the search of its files. A second standard card, or the
13 one supplied by the federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be,
14 shall be forwarded to that bureau at Washington with a request that the
15 files of the bureau be searched and notification of the results of the
16 search be made to the investigating police authority. The failure or
17 refusal of the federal bureau of investigation to make the fingerprint
18 check provided for in this section shall not constitute the sole basis
19 for refusal to issue a permit pursuant to the provisions of this
20 section. Of the remaining two fingerprint cards, one shall be filed with
21 the executive department, division of state police, Albany, within ten
22 days after issuance of the license, and the other remain on file with
23 the investigating police authority. No such fingerprints may be
24 inspected by any person other than a peace officer, who is acting pursu-
25 ant to his special duties, or a police officer, except on order of a
26 judge or justice of a court of record either upon notice to the licensee
27 or without notice, as the judge or justice may deem appropriate. Upon
28 completion of the investigation, the police authority shall report the
29 results to the licensing officer without unnecessary delay.
30 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
31 have become a law.
