STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 503 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, ABINANTI, ENGLEBRIGHT, JAFFEE, L. ROSEN- THAL, GALEF, COOK, ORTIZ, CYMBROWITZ, DINOWITZ, WEPRIN, FAHY, BRAUN- STEIN, MOSLEY, BUCHWALD, STECK, COLTON, ROZIC, SEAWRIGHT, LAVINE -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ARROYO, AUBRY, CRESPO, DenDEKKER, GOTT- FRIED, HEVESI, PERRY, RICHARDSON, SIMON, THIELE, WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, and the general business law, in relation to the safe storage of rifles, shotguns, or firearms; and to repeal certain provisions of the penal law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 "Nicholas's law". 3 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds the following: 4 a. The presence of unsecured, easily accessible, weapons in homes and 5 other places increases the likelihood of death or injury from accidents 6 and impulsive acts; 7 b. Guns left unattended must be kept locked or stored securely to 8 prevent access by children and others who should not have access to 9 them; and 10 c. Gun owners and other lawful possessors are responsible for keeping 11 their weapons from falling into the hands of children and other unau- 12 thorized individuals. 13 § 2. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 265.44 to read 14 as follows: 15 § 265.44 Definition. 16 For purposes of sections 265.45, 265.46, and 265.47 of this article, 17 "safe storage depository" shall mean a safe or other secure container 18 which, when locked, is incapable of being opened without the key, combi- 19 nation or other unlocking mechanism and is capable of preventing a EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03712-01-9

A. 503 2 1 person other than the owner or custodian access to and possession of the 2 weapon contained therein. 3 § 3. Section 265.45 of the penal law is REPEALED and three new 4 sections 265.45, 265.46 and 265.47 are added to read as follows: 5 § 265.45 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique 6 firearm. 7 A person is guilty of failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, 8 firearm or antique firearm when he or she owns or has custody of a 9 rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm and leaves such rifle, shot- 10 gun, firearm or antique firearm out of his or her immediate possession 11 or control without having first securely locked such rifle, shotgun, 12 firearm or antique firearm in an appropriate safe storage depository or 13 rendered it incapable of being fired by use of a gun locking device 14 appropriate to that weapon; provided, however, that actual possession of 15 a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm by the holder of a valid 16 New York hunting license or permit issued pursuant to article eleven of 17 the environmental conservation law and contemporaneously used in accord- 18 ance with such law shall not be governed by this section. 19 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect, impair or supersede 20 any special or local law relating to the safe storage of rifles, shot- 21 guns, firearms or antique firearms which imposes additional requirements 22 on the owner or custodian of such weapons. 23 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm 24 is a violation. 25 § 265.46 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique 26 firearm in the second degree. 27 A person is guilty of failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, 28 firearm or antique firearm in the second degree when he or she commits 29 the crime of failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or 30 antique firearm as defined in section 265.45 of this article and: 31 1. at the time of the commission of such crime, he or she resides with 32 another individual who such person knows or has reason to know is 33 prohibited from possessing a firearm pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), 34 (4), (8) or (9); 35 2. he or she has been previously convicted of failure to safely store 36 a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm within the past ten years 37 under this section, or section 265.45 or 265.47 of this article; or 38 3. as a result, such rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm is 39 obtained by an unauthorized person and discharges causing physical inju- 40 ry to any other person. 41 Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect, impair or supersede 42 any special or local law relating to the safe storage of rifles, shot- 43 guns, firearms or antique firearms, which imposes additional require- 44 ments on the owner or custodian of such weapons. 45 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm 46 in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor. 47 § 265.47 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique 48 firearm in the first degree. 49 A person is guilty of failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, 50 firearm or antique firearm in the first degree when he or she commits 51 the offense of failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or 52 antique firearm as defined in section 265.45 of this article and as a 53 result, such rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm is obtained by 54 an unauthorized person and discharges causing the death of any other 55 person.

A. 503 3 1 Failure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm 2 in the first degree is a class E felony. 3 § 4. The penal law is amended by adding three new sections 265.49, 4 265.51 and 265.53 to read as follows: 5 § 265.49 Failure to provide notice in the second degree. 6 No person shall sell or transfer ownership of any rifle, shotgun, 7 firearm, or antique firearm to another person unless the transferee is 8 provided at the time of sale, delivery, or transfer with: 9 1. A gun locking device that is capable of preventing that particular 10 weapon from firing or a safe storage depository; and 11 2. A copy of the following warning in conspicuous and legible twenty- 12 four point type on eight and one-half inches by eleven inches paper 13 stating in bold print the following warning: 14 WARNING 15 RESPONSIBLE FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS MUST 16 EITHER BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE OR IN A SAFE STORAGE DEPOSI- 17 TORY OR NOT BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF THE 18 OWNER OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED AND 19 LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNITION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSI- 20 BLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR 21 BOTH. 22 Failure to provide notice in the second degree is a violation. 23 § 265.51 Failure to provide notice in the first degree. 24 A person is guilty of failure to provide notice in the first degree 25 when he or she commits the offense of failure to provide notice in the 26 second degree as defined in section 265.49 of this article and has been 27 previously convicted of failure to provide notice under this section or 28 section 265.49 of this article within the preceding ten years. 29 Failure to provide notice in the first degree is a class B misdemea- 30 nor. 31 § 265.53 Reporting of certain firearm convictions. 32 When a person has a prior conviction for failure to safely store a 33 rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the second degree or fail- 34 ure to safely store a rifle, shotgun, firearm or antique firearm in the 35 first degree, upon a second or subsequent conviction of either such 36 offense, the district attorney or other prosecuting authority who 37 obtained such conviction shall provide notice of such conviction to both 38 the division of state police and, if such person possesses a New York 39 state issued handgun license, the pertinent licensing officer who 40 currently exercises legal authority over such person's license. Such 41 notice shall include the offense for which the defendant has been 42 convicted, the name and address of such offender and other identifying 43 information, including the offender's date of birth and social security 44 number, to the extent consistent with federal and state laws governing 45 personal privacy and confidentiality of information. Such district 46 attorney or other prosecuting authority shall include in such notice the 47 name and business address of the offender's counsel of record in the 48 criminal proceeding. Such notice must be filed not more than thirty days 49 after judgment has been entered. 50 § 5. Section 400.00 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi- 51 vision 18 to read as follows: 52 18. Notice. Upon the issuance or renewal of a license, the licensing 53 officer shall issue therewith the following notice in conspicuous and 54 legible twenty-four point type on eight and one-half inches by eleven 55 inches paper stating in bold print the following: 56 WARNING

A. 503 4 1 RESPONSIBLE FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS MUST 2 EITHER BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE OR IN A SAFE STORAGE DEPOSI- 3 TORY OR NOT BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF THE 4 OWNER OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED AND 5 LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNITION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSI- 6 BLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR 7 BOTH. 8 § 6. Subdivision 2 of section 396-ee of the general business law, as 9 added by chapter 189 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: 10 (2) Every person, firm or corporation engaged in the retail business 11 of selling rifles, shotguns [or], firearms or antique firearms, as such 12 terms are defined in section 265.00 of the penal law, shall, in the 13 place where such rifles, shotguns [or], firearms or antique firearms are 14 displayed or transferred to the purchaser, post a notice conspicuously 15 stating in bold print that: [~~"The use of a locking device or safety lock~~ 16 ~~is only one aspect of responsible firearm storage. For increased safety~~ 17 ~~firearms should be stored unloaded and locked in a location that is both~~ 18 ~~separate from their ammunition and inaccessible to children and any~~ 19 ~~other unauthorized person."~~]"RESPONSIBLE FIREARM STORAGE IS THE LAW IN 20 NEW YORK STATE. FIREARMS MUST EITHER BE STORED WITH A GUN LOCKING DEVICE 21 OR IN A SAFE STORAGE DEPOSITORY OR NOT BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE IMMEDIATE 22 POSSESSION AND CONTROL OF THE OWNER OR OTHER LAWFUL POSSESSOR. FIREARMS 23 SHOULD BE STORED UNLOADED AND LOCKED IN A LOCATION SEPARATE FROM AMMUNI- 24 TION. LEAVING FIREARMS ACCESSIBLE TO A CHILD OR OTHER PERSON MAY SUBJECT 25 YOU TO IMPRISONMENT, FINE, OR BOTH." 26 § 7. Severability. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, 27 section, or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent 28 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or 29 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation 30 to the word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part ther- 31 eof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall 32 have been rendered. 33 § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed- 34 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

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