Hochul introduces comprehensive legislation to strengthen gun laws

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie on Monday announced that 10 bills have been introduced in both the Assembly and Senate that would tighten New York’s gun laws, close loopholes and directly address gaps in laws exposed by the horrific shootings in Buffalo, Texas and around the country.

Hochul said the bills would require information sharing between state, local and federal agencies when guns are used in crimes; make threatening mass harm a crime; require microstamping for new guns; increase accountability for social media platforms; eliminate grandfathering of large capacity ammunition feeding devices; and prohibit the purchase of body armor for anyone who is not engaged in an eligible profession.

The governor said the measures would also strengthen the Red Flag law by expanding the list of people who can file for Extreme Risk Protection Orders, and other measures; require that an individual obtain a license, with a minimum age of 21, to purchase a semiautomatic rifle; and close the “any other weapon” loophole.

“Within the last month, two horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and in Texas have rattled this nation to our core and shed a new light on the urgent need for action to prevent future tragedies,” Gov. Hochul said. “New York already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country but, clearly, we need to make them even stronger.

“New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in schools, in grocery stores, in movie theaters, in shopping malls, and on our streets, and we must do everything in our power to protect them,” she added. “Working closely with Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Heastie, and all of our partners in the Legislature, we will strengthen our gun laws, help keep New Yorkers safe, give law enforcement the tools they need to prevent crime, and stop the spread of dangerous weapons.

“As New York once again leads, we continue to urge the federal government to seize this opportunity and pass meaningful national gun violence prevention laws,” Hochul continued.

“Our nation has been brought to a moment of reckoning due to weapons of war that have been too easily accessed by those seeking to kill,” Stewart-Cousins said. “These weapons have made places in our communities like schools, grocery stores, houses of worship, and concerts, places of carnage.

“In these devastating times in New York and across the nation, we have worked with Gov. Hochul, Speaker Heastie and members of the Democratic Legislature to step up and send a message that this path of gun violence is unacceptable and we need real change,” she added.

“Just 10 days separated the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde that took the lives of 31 people. Nowhere else in the world is this happening. We are in desperate need of a conversation about guns, but we are also in desperate need of action,” Heastie said. “Here, in New York, we are ready to act. Working with our partners in the Senate and Gov. Hochul,

“We have put together a package of legislation to address gun violence,” he added. “We will strengthen our red flag law so those that are a risk to themselves and others don’t fall through the cracks of the system.

“We will get rid of loopholes that permit large capacity ammunition feeding devices, make it harder to purchase body armor and work to address the role social media plays in violence and acts of domestic terrorism,” Heastie continued. “The list goes on. I hope that one day we’ll see the end to the horrific gun violence we see in this country. But, until then, I will keep fighting.”

The legislative package includes A.1023-A (Paulin)/S.4970-A (Kavanagh), which requires all state and local law enforcement agencies to report seized or recovered guns to the criminal gun clearinghouse; participate in ATFs collective data sharing program; test-fire seized or recovered guns for national integrated Ballistic Information Network; and, enter the make, model, caliber, and serial number of the gun into the national crime information center.

The bill also requires gun dealers to implement a security plan for securing firearms, rifles and shotguns; prohibit persons under eighteen and not accompanied by a parent from the certain locations of a gun dealer’s premises; provide training to all employees on the conduct of firearm, rifle, and shotgun transfers, including identification of and response to illegal purchases; and adhere to record keeping requirements; and require the State police to conduct inspections of gun dealers every three years.

A.6716-A (Wallace)/S89-B (Kaminsky) creates the crimes of making a threat of mass harm and aggravated making a threat of mass harm.

A.7926-A (Rosenthal, L)/S.4116-A (Hoylman) requires DCJS to certify or decline to certify that microstamping-enabled pistols are technologically viable and, if certified as viable, to establish programs and processes for the implementation of such technology; and, establishes the crime of the unlawful sale of a non-microstamping-enabled firearm.

A7865-A (Fahy)/ S.4511-A (Kaplan) requires social media networks in New York to provide a clear and concise policy regarding how they would respond to incidents of hateful conduct on their platform and maintain easily accessible mechanisms for reporting hateful conduct on those platforms.

A.10428-A (People-Stokes)/S.9229-A (Hoylman) eliminates the grandfathering of large capacity ammunition feeding devices that were lawfully possessed prior to the enactment of the Safe Act or manufactured prior to 1994.

1. 10497 (Jacobson)/S.9407-B (Kavanagh) makes unlawful the purchase and sale of body vests for anyone who is not engaged in an eligible profession. Eligible professions include law enforcement officers and other professions designated by the Department of State in consultation with other agencies. Also requires that any sale of a body vest be done in person.

A.10501 (Meeks)/S. 9465 (Bailey) creates a new Task Force on Social Media and Violent Extremism in the Attorney General’s office to study and investigate the role of social media companies in promoting and facilitating violent extremism and domestic terrorism online.

1. 10502 (Cahill)/S. 9113-A (Skoufis) expands who may file an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) petition to include health care practitioners who have examined the individual within the last six months; requires police and district attorneys to file ERPO petitions upon credible information that an individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to himself, herself or others; requires the State Police and the Municipal Police Training Council to create and disseminate policies and procedures to identify when an ERPO petition may be warranted.
2. 10502 also amends the firearm licensing statute to make it clear that when an individual has been reported by a mental health practitioner and a county mental health commissioner has concurred with such practitioner that the individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to themself or others, such report is considered in determining whether or not to issue a firearm license to the individual; and, expands the mental health practitioners who can make such reports.

A.10503 (Jackson)/S. 9458 (Thomas) requires that an individual obtain a license prior purchasing a semiautomatic rifle. This is prospective and applies to purchases made on and after the effective date.

1. 10504 (Burgos)/S. 9456 (Sepulveda) expands the definition of a “firearm” to include any weapon not defined in the Penal Law that is designed or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by action of an explosive.

This is intended to capture firearms that have been modified to be shot from an arm brace, which are evading our current definitions of firearms and rifles.