Exempts from disclosure on the freedom of information law, the issuance of pistol permits to any person

3 Co-sponsors

• Michael F. Nozzolio
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• Lee M. Zeldin

BILL NUMBER:S2132

Title of bill

An act to amend the public officers law, in relation to exempting the disclosure, under the freedom of information law, of the name of any person issued a license to carry or possess a firearm

Purpose

This legislation would exempt all persons name and address who have a pistol permit from the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) other than law enforcement.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 Subdivision 2 of section 87 of the public officers law; As added by Section 12 of part II of chapter 59 of the laws of 2010, are amended and a new paragraph (m) is added to read as follows: external audits, including but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the federal government OR are examination questions or answers which are requested prior to the final administration of such questions. (m) is information related to the issuance, pursuant to article four hundred of the penal law, of any license to carry or posses firearms; provided, however, that no provision of this subparagraph shall be deemed to prohibit the disclosure of such information to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of conducting an investigation or prosecution.

Justification

The recent abuses of the public access to New York State's pistol permit registry due to the creation of virtual mapping has created a roadmap for criminals listing the names and addresses of those that have guns and by elimination showing those that do not. This creates the ability for criminals to easily compile a target list of victims from which they can steal guns or bring harm during an attempted act of violence and or robbery.

The law is currently written to allow a FOIL request to be made at all County Clerk's offices in New York for a listing of licensed pistol permit holders names and addresses. Having these names and addresses publicly available online creates serious concern for the privacy and safety of all listed. It also endangers those who do not possess a pistol permit by providing information to criminals of those not protected by a legal firearm.

When initially established the Freedom of Information Law couldn't possibly be written to factor in modern technology including social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc) or advanced mapping technologies like Google Maps. These social media advancements emerged as commonplace tools to access personal information after many public information laws were passed. The advent of the Internet must be considered when working to ensure every citizen of New York has both their privacy and safety protected, guaranteed by law.

The main priority in amending the public officers law is to protect legal pistol permit holders in New York from the unwarranted public disclosure of personal information. By updating the privacy protections of law-abiding pistol permit holders of New York State to meet modern realities.

New York will join a vast majority of states that protect the privacy of legal pistol permit holders. This legislation maintains law enforcement and prosecutors full authority to have access to confidential information while protecting all law abiding pistol permit holders in the State of New York.

Therefore, this legislation will block the public disclosure of legal pistol permit holders names and addresses. Both permit and non-permit holders will be more secure, while still granting law enforcement and prosecutors access to information they need.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

None to New York State.

Local fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.