Prohibits gun industry members from marketing firearms and firearm related products to minors; excepts instances where marketing is geared toward hunting purposes; establishes a private right of action for violations.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8125
IN SENATE
January 8, 2024
___________
Introduced by Sen. MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing a
private right of action against gun industry members for marketing
firearms and firearm related products to minors
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 6 of section 898-a of the general busi-
2 ness law, as added by chapter 237 of the laws of 2021, are amended and
3 four new subdivisions 7, 8, 9 and 10 are added to read as follows:
4 2. "Reasonable controls and procedures" shall mean policies that
5 include, but are not limited to: (a) instituting screening, security,
6 inventory and other business practices to prevent thefts of qualified
7 products as well as sales of qualified products to straw purchasers,
8 traffickers, persons prohibited from possessing firearms under state or
9 federal law, or persons at risk of injuring themselves or others; [and]
10 (b) preventing deceptive acts and practices and false advertising and
11 otherwise ensuring compliance with all provisions of article
12 twenty-two-A of this chapter; and (c) preventing the marketing of
13 firearms and firearm related products to individuals under the age of
14 eighteen.
15 6. "Qualified product" shall [have the same meaning as defined in 15
16 U.S.C. section 7903(4)] mean a firearm, as defined in subparagraph (A)
17 or (B) of 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(3), including any antique firearm, as
18 defined in 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(16), or ammunition, as defined in 18
19 U.S.C. section 921(a)(17)(A), or a firearm related product.
20 7. "Firearm accessory" shall mean an attachment or device designed or
21 adapted to be inserted into, affixed onto, or used in conjunction with a
22 firearm that is designed, intended, or functions to alter or enhance the
23 firing capabilities of a firearm, the lethality of the firearm, or a
24 shooter's ability to hold and use a firearm, regardless of whether such
25 accessory has been shipped or transported in interstate commerce.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02755-04-4
S. 8125 2
1 8. "Firearm precursor part" shall mean a component of a firearm that
2 is necessary to build or assemble a firearm and is described in any of
3 the following categories:
4 (a) An unfinished receiver as defined in subdivision thirty-two of
5 section 265.00 of the penal law.
6 (b) An unfinished handgun frame as defined in subdivision thirty-two
7 of section 265.00 of the penal law.
8 (c) A "major component of a firearm, rifle or shotgun" as defined in
9 subdivision three-a of section 265.00 of the penal law.
10 9. "Firearm related product" shall mean a firearm, ammunition, a
11 firearm precursor part, a firearm component, and a firearm accessory
12 that meets any of the following conditions:
13 (a) The item is sold, manufactured, or distributed in New York state.
14 (b) The item is intended to be sold or distributed in New York state.
15 (c) The item is or was possessed in New York state and it was reason-
16 ably foreseeable that such item would be possessed in New York state.
17 10. "Firearm" shall have the same meaning as that term is defined in
18 subdivision three of section 265.00 of the penal law, and for the
19 purposes of this article, shall include a "rifle" as defined in subdivi-
20 sion eleven and a "shotgun" as defined in subdivision twelve of such
21 section of the penal law.
22 § 2. Section 898-b of the general business law is amended by adding a
23 new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
24 3. It shall be unlawful for any gun industry member to design or
25 market any firearm or firearm related product as defined in section
26 eight hundred ninety-eight-a of this article to any individual under the
27 age of eighteen, unless such firearm or firearm related product is being
28 designed or marketed to individuals under the age of eighteen for the
29 purposes of hunting in accordance with article eleven of the environ-
30 mental conservation law.
31 § 3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part
32 of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
33 be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the
34 remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
35 sentence, paragraph, section or part thereof directly involved in the
36 controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.
37 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
38 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
39 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
40 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
41 completed on or before such effective date.
