Amd S265.00, add SS265.50 - 265.75, Pen L; amd S396-ee, Gen Bus L; amd S305, Ed L
Enacts the "children's weapon accident prevention act"; creates crimes of failure to store a weapon safely in the first and second degrees, aggravated failure to store a weapon safely, and criminally negligent storage of a weapon in the first and second degrees; provides affirmative defenses; directs the commissioner of education to develop a weapons safety program.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3941A
SPONSOR: Weisenberg (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the penal law, the general business
law and the education law, in relation to criminally negligent storage
of a weapon and weapons safety programs for children
PURPOSE:
Establishes the "Children's Weapon Accident Prevention Act." Creates
crimes related to the unsafe storage of a weapon and criminally negli-
gent storage of a weapon to protect children, and others, from injury
and death due to unauthorized access, discharge and use of weapons.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 contains the short title of the bill.
Section 2 contains legislative findings.
Section 3 creates 5 new definitions within penal law 265.00.
Section 4 creates 5 new crimes within article 265 of the penal law, and
one provision related to the applicability of those crimes. Specif-
ically:
§ 265.50 defines failure to store a weapon safely in the second degree
as a.violation;
§ 265.55 defines failure to store a weapon safely in the first degree as
a class B misdemeanor;
§ 265.60 defines aggravated failure to store a weapon safely in the
second degree, resulting in the removal or discharge of the weapon by a
child, as a class A misdemeanor;
§ 265.65 defines criminally negligent storage of a weapon in the second
degree, resulting in 'a child causing serious physical injury to
himself/herself or any other person, as a class E felony;
§ 265.70 defines criminally negligent storage of a weapon in the first
degree, resulting in a child causing the death of himself/herself or any
other person, as a class El felony. With respect to the crimes defined
in sections 265.65 and 265.70 of the penal law, it shall be an affirma-
tive defense that the defendant reasonably attempted to retrieve or
regain possession of the firearm, rifle or shotgun prior to discharge.
Exceptions are provided when persons under eighteen gain access to a
weapon by unlawful means; when a weapon is securely stored in a locked
box and where ammunition is separately and securely stored in a locked
container; when a firearm, rifle or shotgun is securely locked with a
gun locking device; when persons under eighteen possessed a loaded rifle
or shotgun pursuant to a valid hunting license; when the firearm is in
the possession of a police officer engaged in official business; or for
the lawful purpose of self-defense.
§ 265.75 gives the district attorney discretion whether or not to prose-
cute a parent or guardian when death or injury of a child results from a
violation of penal law 265.65 or 265.70.
Section 5 amends subdivision 2 of section 396-ee of the general business
law to require gun dealers to post a conspicuous notice that it is a
crime in New York to leave guns accessible to children.
Section 6 adds subdivision 43 to section 305 of the education law to
require the commissioner to develop a weapon safety program designed to
teach children how to prevent gun-related injuries.
Section 7 is a severability clause.
Section 8 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 40 states, firearms, rifles and semiautomatic weapons are sold to
parents without requirements to store the weapons safely. "In 1988; some
1,501 people were killed in the United States by accidental discharge of
firearms and many more were injured. Among those killed were 277 chil-
dren under the age of 15. In fact, firearms are the fourth leading cause
of accidental deaths among children 5 to 14 years of age and the third
leading cause of accidental deaths among 15 to 24 year olds." (United
States General. Accounting Office; "Accidental Shootings", 1991.)
Between 1990 and 1994 in New York state alone, there were a total of
6,627 hospitalizations of children age 19 and under due to firearm inju-
ry, an average of 1,325 per year. One thousand four hundred nineteen of
these were accidental, an average of 284 per year. At the same time,
there were 1,734 deaths of children age 19 and under, an average of 347
per year. Tragically, 48 of these deaths were accidental, averaging 10
per year. And in 1997, the last year for which reliable figures are
available for New York state, 5 children under 18 were killed in firearm
accidents and 72 were injured seriously enough to be hospitalized.
It is estimated that about one of every three deaths from accidental
firearm discharge could have been prevented if proper weapon safety
procedures had been followed. (United States General Accounting Office).
In 2000, legislation was enacted in New York to require the purchase of
a safety locking device with the purchase or transfer of a gun. However,
there was no requirement to use the device or safely store a gun. It is
the intent of this legislation to encourage safe firearm storage and to
prevent negligent conduct before accidents occur.
The states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine,
Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Virginia and Wisconsin have already
passed similar legislation. Accidental gun deaths of children were
reduced 23% in states with Child Access Prevention/Safe Gun storage(CAP)
laws, according to a study published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association on October 1, 1997.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2000: A.1407-B - Passed Assembly
2001-2002: A.5363-B - Passed Assembly
2003-2004: A.4615-C - Passed Assembly
2005-2006: A.673 - Passed Assembly
2007-2008: A.76A - Passed Assembly
2009-2010: S.3098-A - Schneiderman) A.5844-B (Weisenberg)
2011-2012: S.895
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law provided, however, that
sections three and four of this act shall take effect May 1, 2015,
provided, further, that section five of this act shall take effect March
1, 2015 except that any rule or regulation necessary for the timely
implementation of section five of this act shall be promulgated on or
before such date.
