What's happening
This bill establishes a statewide database to track coded ammunition, requires manufacturers and vendors to comply, and sets penalties for violations.
Why it matters
Creates a system to identify shooters even if the firearm isn’t recovered. By requiring unique codes etched onto each bullet and tracking all sales, this bill gives law enforcement a new tool to trace ammunition found at crime scenes directly to the purchaser or original seller, potentially solving gun crimes that would otherwise go cold.
Imposes new costs and compliance burdens on manufacturers, vendors, and consumers. Manufacturers must invest in technology to etch unique identifiers onto bullets, vendors must register and keep detailed sales records for years, and consumers will pay a small surcharge on every round of ammunition purchased—costs that could impact availability and pricing.
Makes possession of old (non-coded) ammunition illegal after a transition period. Anyone with uncoded ammunition must dispose of it by a certain date, making it a class A misdemeanor to possess or sell uncoded rounds thereafter, which could affect current gun owners and raise questions about enforcement and compliance.
Limits access to ammo tracking data to law enforcement for investigations. While the database collects extensive personal and transaction information, the bill emphasizes privacy by restricting access to key law enforcement personnel, aiming to balance public safety interests with individual privacy concerns.
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Who cares
Ammunition manufacturers
They would have to register with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, retain transaction records for seven years and etch unique identifiers onto handgun and assault weapon ammunition, with fines for willful violations.
Ammunition vendors
They would have to register, record purchaser and ammunition information, retain records for at least three years and collect an additional $0.005 per round to fund the database.
Ammunition purchasers and owners
Purchasers would pay the added charge, while owners would have to dispose of uncoded ammunition by January 1, 2022, and possession of uncoded ammunition or ammunition with unreadable codes would be a class A misdemeanor.
Division of Criminal Justice Services and law enforcement investigators
The division would establish and maintain the ammunition database, with access reserved for key law enforcement personnel and information released only in connection with criminal investigations.
Headline styles
Code All Gun Ammunition
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to consumer protection
- Referred to consumer protection
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.
Code All Ammunition Sold
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Felix Ortiz
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2902
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 30, 2019
Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law and the penal law, in relation to establishing a statewide database to maintain and track coded ammunition and establishing penalties for individuals who violate such provisions; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to establishing the ammunition coding system database fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds that each year in the United States more than thirty percent of all homicides involving a gun go unsolved. Handgun ammunition accounts for approximately eighty percent of all ammunition sold within the United States. Current technology for matching a bullet used in a crime to the gun that fired it has worked moderately well for years, but presupposes that the weapon was recovered by law enforcement. Ammunition coding is a new and effective way for law enforcement to quickly identify persons of interest in gun crime investigations.
§ 2. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 396- gg to read as follows:
§ 396-gg. Ammunition coding system database. 1. The division of criminal justice services is responsible for establishing and maintaining an ammunition coding system database containing information from the following:
a. The manufacturer registry. (i) Every manufacturer shall register with the division of criminal justice services in a manner prescribed by the division, and shall maintain records on the business premises for a period of seven years concerning all sales, loans, and transfers of ammunition to, from, or within the state.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08198-01-9
S. 2902 2
(ii) Every manufacturer shall code any ammunition for handguns and assault weapons sold or manufactured after January first, two thousand twenty.
b. The vendor registry. Every vendor of ammunition shall register with the division of criminal justice services in a manner prescribed by the division, and shall record the following information in a format prescribed by the division:
(i) the date of the transaction;
(ii) the name of the transferee;
(iii) the purchaser's driver's license number or other government issued identification card number;
(iv) the date of birth of the purchaser;
(v) the unique identifier of all handgun ammunition or bullets transferred; and
(vi) any other information determined necessary by the division.
Every vendor shall maintain these records on their premises for a period of at least three years from the date of the recorded purchase.
2. To the greatest extent possible or practical, the ammunition coding system database shall be built within the framework of existing firearms databases. The ammunition coding system database shall be operational no later than January first, two thousand twenty-one.
3. Privacy of individuals is of the utmost importance. Access to information in the ammunition coding system database is reserved for key law enforcement personnel and to be released only in connection with a criminal investigation.
4. The cost of maintaining the database shall be funded by the ammunition coding system database fund established pursuant to section ninety-one-e of the state finance law. Vendors shall charge an additional $.005 per bullet or round of ammunition to the purchaser. Such moneys shall be deposited into the fund.
5. Any person in possession of non-coded ammunition must dispose of such ammunition no later than January first, two thousand twenty-two.
6. a. Any manufacturer that willfully fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of up to one thousand dollars for a first offense; a fine of up to five thousand dollars for a second offense; and a fine of up to ten thousand dollars for a third and each subsequent offense.
b. Any vendor that willfully fails to comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of up to one thousand dollars for a first offense; a fine of up to two thousand dollars for a second offense; and a fine of up to five thousand dollars for a third and each subsequent offense. In addition to any fine imposed pursuant to this section, a vendor may be subject to a term of imprisonment of less than one year for each violation.
7. For purposes of this section, "coded ammunition" means a bullet carrying a unique identifier that has been applied by etching onto the base of the bullet projectile.
§ 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 265.50 to read as follows: § 265.50 Unlawful sale or possession of uncoded ammunition.
A person is guilty of unlawful sale of uncoded ammunition when he or she:
1. sells any ammunition that has not been coded pursuant to section three hundred ninety-six-gg of the general business law; or
2. possesses any ammunition that is uncoded, or the code of which has been rendered unreadable.
S. 2902 3
Unlawful sale or possession of uncoded ammunition is a class A misdemeanor.
§ 4. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 91-e to read as follows:
§ 91-e. Ammunition coding system database fund. 1. There is hereby created in the joint custody of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance, a fund to be known as the ammunition coding system database fund.
2. The fund shall consist of all moneys collected pursuant to section three hundred ninety-six-gg of the general business law, or any other money appropriated to the fund by law.
3. The moneys of the fund shall be used to establish and maintain the ammunition coding system database created pursuant to section three hundred ninety-six-gg of the general business law.
4. Moneys shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the director of the division of criminal justice services.
§ 5. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law and the penal law, in relation to establishing a statewide database to maintain and track coded ammuni- tion and establishing penalties for individuals who violate such provisions; and to amend the state finance law, in relation to estab- lishing the ammunition coding system database fund
Purpose
This legislation would require all manufacturers to use Ammunition Coding System (ACS) on all handgun and assault weapon ammunition sold in New York State; establishes an ACS database containing manufacturer and vendor registries, funded through an ACS Database Fund under the control of the State Comptroller and the Department of Taxation and Finance; and provides penalties for unlawful sale of un-coded ammunition.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 provides Legislative findings.
Read the full memo (698 words)
Section 2 adds a new Section 396-gg to the General Business Law charging the Division of Criminal Justice Services with the responsibility for establishing and maintaining an Ammunition Coding System database, containing a manufacturer registry and a vendor registry, to be opera- tional no later than January 1, 2020.
The manufacture registry defines that every manufacturer shall register with the division of criminal justice services in a manner prescribed by the division, and shall maintain records on the business premises for a period of seven years concerning sales, loans, and transfers of ammuni- tion to, from, or within the state. Every manufacturer shall code any ammunition for handguns and assault weapons sold or manufactured after January 1, 2019.
It also restricts access to the registry to key law enforcement person- nel, and only in connection with a criminal investigation, and estab- lishes a funding stream under a new Section 91-g of the State Finance Law (see Section 4). It requires any person in possession of non-coded ammunition to dispose of it no later than January 1, 2021, and estab- lishes penalties for noncompliance for manufacturers and vendors.
Section 3 adds a new Section 265.45 to the Penal Law establishing unlaw- ful sale of un-coded ammunition after in violation of the provisions of this bill as a Class A misdemeanor.
Section 4 adds a new Section 91-h to the State Finance Law creating the Ammunition Coding System Database Fund in the joint custody of the State Comptroller and the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance. Moneys from the Fund are payable by the State Comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the Division of Criminal Justice Services.
Section 5 is the effective date of 90 days after the bill becomes law.
Justification
According to the United States Department of Justice, there is more than a 30% chance of never finding the killer in homicides involving a firearm, and handgun ammunition accounts for about 80 percent of all ammunition sold in the United States.
New York State law requires gun stores to provide law enforcement with a sample bullet/cartridge prior to the sale of a handgun so the state may create a digital image for future gun tracing, known as "ballistic fing- erprinting." Ballistic fingerprinting can match a bullet/cartridge recovered by police at a crime scene to the gun that fired it. But the state does not ballistic fingerprint assault rifles, and ballistic fing- erprinting can't identify the millions of guns currently owned. In addi- tion, if ballistic evidence cannot be quickly linked to a gun used in a crime, and the gun is not recovered and quickly linked to a suspect, the chance of arresting the perpetrator is far less likely.
The Ammunition Coding System (ACS) assigns a unique code that is micro- laser engraved on every factory-produced round of ammunition manufac- tured. The code is etched on both the projectile and the inside of the cartridge casing, with each code common to a single box of cartridges and unique from all other ammunition sold. By recording sales records, law enforcement personnel will be able to easily trace the ammunition involved in a crime and have an avenue to pursue and solve even the most difficult cases.
Legislative history
2011/12: A1150 Referred to Codes 2013/14: A2023 Referred to Codes 2015/16: A8466 Referred to Codes
Fiscal implications
To be determined
Effective date
Ninety days after the bill becomes law
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.