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History
- Referred to investigations and government operations
Companion bill
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Establishes a special fee on firearms, rifles and shotguns
In Assembly Committee · Ways And Means · Sponsor Matthew Titone
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to establishing a special fee on firearms, rifles and shotguns; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the gun violence research fund
Purpose or general idea of bill
Establishes a special fee on firearms, rifles and shotguns, this fee would be expended into a newly established gun violence research fund.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends the tax law by adding a new article 28-c. This article imposes a fee in the amount of five dollars for every firearm, rifle or shotgun purchased. This fee shall be collected by the vendor from the purchaser. Every person required to collect the fee shall file a return and pay the fee required to be collected to the commissioner on or before the twentieth day after the close of the quarterly period. Any bona fide veteran's organization receiving firearms, rifles, or shotguns for the sole use of ceremonial purpose with blank ammunition shall be exempt from the fee.
Read the full memo (622 words)
Section 2 amends the state finance law by adding a new section 86 which establishes the "gun violence research fund" in joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance. Money from the fund may be expended to the department of health and the state university of New York for gun violence research. The department of health and the state university of New York shall provide grants for the purpose of advancing and financing gun violence research. The next part of the section goes into the bidding process for grants.
Section 3 allows the act to take effect immediately and will apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. Section 1 shall take effect June 1, 2016. Also the act shall be deemed repealed in the event that Congress authorizes funding for gun violence research to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Justification
Gun violence killed 33,636 Americans in the year 2013, which is comparable to the 33,804 Americans killed by motor vehicles in 2013. However, the funding provided by Congress to research prevention for these deaths is far from comparable. In fiscal year 2015 congress provided $170 million for injury prevention and control to the CDC, which includes car accidents. Additionally the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration received $830 million in 2015 devoted to vehicle and traffic safety research and grants.
In 2013, Congress has provided no money to the CDC to fund research for gun safety. The National Institutes of Health and Department of Justice have commissioned around $5 million in gun violence related research. This disparity shows a complete disregard on the part of the United States Congress to end gun violence which is plaguing this country.
Congress has not funded research into gun violence since 1996, essentially stopping the country's leading experts on public health from finding solutions to ending the gun problem. Today, gun violence has become a major threat to Americans. The public health threat from guns does not just come from mass shooting which are covered heavily by the media, but also from suicides, domestic violence and accidental deaths. Our federal legislators have failed to provide funds in order to research this issue which is plaguing our nation. Ultimately the goal of this legislation is to give the State of New York the resources to find a solution to curb deaths by gun violence in this country.
Prior legislative history
None.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. However, section 1 shall take effect June 1, 2016
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.