Bill Text: NY S00248 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to gun buy back programs; requires entities operating such programs to check the serial number of all firearms obtained against the NYSPIN records and to obtain the express permission of the lawful owner of any firearm found to be stolen before the destruction thereof.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO CODES [S00248 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S00248-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           248

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes

        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to gun buyback programs

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  1  of  section  400.05  of the penal law, as
     2  amended by chapter 350 of the laws of 1986, is amended and a new  subdi-
     3  vision 7 is added to read as follows:
     4    1. Any weapon, instrument, appliance or substance specified in article
     5  two hundred sixty-five of this chapter, when unlawfully possessed, manu-
     6  factured, transported or disposed of, or when utilized in the commission
     7  of  an  offense, is hereby declared a nuisance. When the same shall come
     8  into the possession of any police officer or peace officer, it shall  be
     9  surrendered immediately to the official mentioned in [paragraph] subpar-
    10  agraph  (f)  of  [subdivision] paragraph one of subdivision a of section
    11  265.20 of this chapter, except that such weapon,  instrument,  appliance
    12  or  substance  coming  into  the possession of the state police shall be
    13  surrendered to the superintendent of state police.
    14    7. (a) Any private or governmental  entity  operating  a  gun  buyback
    15  program shall:
    16    (i)  require  that the serial number of every firearm obtained by such
    17  gun buyback program is checked against the  New  York  Statewide  Police
    18  Information  Network  (NYSPIN)  records of stolen firearms and, if it is
    19  found that any such firearm is a stolen firearm, that the firearm is not
    20  destroyed without the express permission of the lawful owner thereof and
    21  that if the lawful owner of the firearm does not give express permission
    22  for the firearm to be destroyed, that the firearm  is  returned  to  its
    23  lawful owner;
    24    (ii)  prior to returning a stolen firearm to a lawful owner, determine
    25  whether or not the lawful owner is eligible to possess a  firearm  under

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00187-01-3
        S. 248                              2

     1  this  chapter.  If  the  lawful  owner  of  the firearm is ineligible to
     2  possess a firearm under this  chapter,  the  entity  operating  the  gun
     3  buyback  program  may destroy the firearm in compliance with subdivision
     4  two of this section.
     5    (b)  For  the purposes of this section, the term "gun buyback program"
     6  shall mean any program in which firearms, machine-guns or ammunition are
     7  purchased by or surrendered to the superintendent  of  the  division  of
     8  state  police  or a member thereof designated by such superintendent, or
     9  to a county sheriff, or in the county of Nassau or in the towns of Baby-
    10  lon, Brookhaven, Huntington,  Islip  and  Smithtown  in  the  county  of
    11  Suffolk  to the commissioner of police or a member of the police depart-
    12  ment thereof designated by such commissioner, or to the  police  commis-
    13  sioner or head of the police force or department of any city, town other
    14  than  one  named in this paragraph, or village thereof or to a member of
    15  the force or department designated by such commissioner or head.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
    17  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.  Effective  immediate-
    18  ly,  the  addition,  amendment  and/or  repeal of any rule or regulation
    19  necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective  date  are
    20  authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.