NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5628
SPONSOR: Brindisi (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to the private
sale or disposal of firearms, rifles and shotguns
PURPOSE:
To exempt the holder of a valid NYS pistol license or relative of a gun
owner from the requirement of a background check when taking possession
of a rifle or shotgun.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 898 of the general business law to broaden the
definition of "immediate family" to include relatives by blood, adoption
or marriage as eligible to receive a long gun without the necessity of a
background check. It also exempts a holder of valid NYS pistol license
from the requirement to obtain a background check before taking
possession of a long gun. Section 2 provides for an immediate effective
date.
EXISTING LAW:
Current law requires certain blood or close relatives of a gun owner to
undergo a background check before the gun owner can transfer a firearm
to the relative. The exemption is narrow and limited in scope. Current
law also provides no waiver for a pistol licensee in spite of the legal
requirement that a licensee be fingerprinted and undergo a comprehensive
background check before a license is issued.
JUSTIFICATION:
For generations before the SAFE Act was hastily adopted, parents and
relatives gave or sold firearms to family members to keep heirlooms
within a family or to mark meritorious or significant occasions, such as
graduations, completion of sportsmen's education, birthdays or Christ-
mas. The SAFE Act changed that without any evidence that these kinds of
transfers posed a threat to public safety.
This extreme and draconian provision of Governor Cuomo's SAFE Act
defines the term "overreach." It requires that a close relative known
personally to a gun owner undergo a background check before taking
possession of a legal rifle or shotgun. Under the SAFE Act, for example,
a grandparent can not transfer to a grandchild a family heirloom rifle
or shotgun, or a gift to mark a special event such as a birthday or
graduation, without the ludicrous requirement that the grandchild under-
go a background check. The same applies to a gift or sale to a nephew,
niece, brother or sister-in-law -- relatives by blood or marriage known
to the donor. Oddly, the SAFE Act does not include the term "parent" in
the definition of "immediate family," raising the question whether an
adult child could gift a hunting rifle to his parent without the parent
undergoing a background check.
While the intent of the law was to ensure that firearms are not trans-
ferred to those legally barred from owning them, it has created new
obstacles to the time honored tradition of passing heirloom or historic
firearms to relatives, or gifting firearms to mark a special occasion or
milestone, further burdening the free exercise of one's Second Amendment
rights. Supporters of the original legislation did not demonstrate any
correlation between relatives gifting long guns to their children,
grandchildren, nieces, nephews or parents, and incidents of violence.
For years, families have given firearms as gifts or passed them down to
succeeding generations without incident. If approved, this bill would
restore a measure of sanity and common sense to the hastily approved
SAFE Act by allowing an eligible adult to sell, transfer or otherwise
gift a legal firearm to a relative known to him or her without a back-
ground check.
In addition, the proposed bill exempts holders of valid NYS pistol
licenses from the background check requirement when taking possession of
a long gun through private sale, gift or transfer. Under the Penal Law,
every applicant for a pistol license must undergo a comprehensive crimi-
nal and mental history background check before a licensing officer
issues a pistol license. To require additional background checks of a
licensee in order to accept a rifle or shotgun is duplicative, waste
government's time and resources, and makes little sense particularly in
light of the new requirement that licenses be updated every five years
and existing legal safeguards. Licensing officers revoke or suspend the
licenses of pistol license holders charged with or convicted of crimes,
so this exemption poses no public safety hazard.
Finally, the SAFE Act requires that the required background check be
conducted by a dealer, although dealers are under no obligation to do so
and their fee is capped at ten dollars. Should a dealer decline to
conduct a transaction, an eligible gun owner could be unable, or find it
difficult, to legally transfer a firearm to a family member outside the
current definition of "immediate family," such as a parent, grandchild,
brother or sister, nephew, niece or in-law.
It should be noted that neither this bill, nor the subject section of
law, applies to the sale or transfer of handguns. Someone seeking to
take legal possession of a handgun or pistol must possess a valid New
York State pistol license and must obtain a purchase coupon from the
local licensing authority.
Section 265 of the penal law prohibits the transfer or sale of a firearm
to someone barred by law from possessing a weapon.
This bill modifies an extreme and ineffective portion of the SAFE Act as
it pertains to transfers of long guns among family members and to law
abiding citizens who have withstood a rigorous background check in order
to hold a NYS pistol license.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
