What's happening
This bill prohibits the sale of firearms without childproofing features and sets standards for child safety mechanisms on guns.
Why it matters
Directly targets accidental child shootings. by requiring that new handguns sold have built-in safety features proven to prevent use by young children, addressing a key cause of unintentional firearm injuries and deaths among kids.
Mandates specific safety mechanisms. such as a minimum 10-pound trigger pull, grip size adjustments, or multi-step firing requirements—ensuring that manufacturers cannot use vague or easily circumvented design changes to meet the law.
Empowers state police to set and update safety standards. in collaboration with gun makers, which allows for adaptation to technological advances and ensures ongoing oversight, rather than a one-time rule.
Establishes criminal penalties for violations. , making it a class A misdemeanor for retailers to sell non-compliant firearms, which could deter irresponsible business practices and reinforce the importance of child safety in gun sales.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Ban Child-Operated Firearm Sales
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Ban Child-Operated Firearms Sales
In Senate Committee · Codes · Sponsor José M. Serrano
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6346
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 2, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, LENTOL, ORTIZ, KAVANAGH -- Multi- Sponsored by -- M. of A. COLTON, CYMBROWITZ, GALEF -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to the sale of child operated firearms
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 265.18 to read as follows: § 265.18 Sale of child operated firearms; childproofing.
1. No person, firm, limited liability company or corporation engaged in the retail business of selling rifles, shotguns or firearms shall sell, deliver or transfer any child operated firearm to another person.
2. For purposes of this section, "child operated firearm" means a pistol or revolver manufactured twelve months or more after the effective date of this section which does not contain a childproofing device or mechanism incorporated into the design of such pistol or revolver to effectively preclude an average five year old child from operating the pistol or revolver. Such devices or mechanisms shall include, but not be limited to: the capacity to adjust the trigger resistance to at least a ten pound pull, the capacity to alter the firing mechanism so that an average five year old child's hands are too small to operate the pistol or revolver, or the capacity to require a series of multiple motions in order to fire the pistol or revolver.
3. The superintendent of the state police shall, in consultation with such gun manufacturers as such superintendent deems appropriate, adopt rules and regulations establishing minimum standards for childproofing devices or mechanisms to ensure that such childproofing devices or mechanisms are safe and effective.
4. Any person, firm or corporation who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03251-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.