S.C.O.P.E. Legal Update July, 2023

Schuyler County’s SCOPE Chapter publishes a Legal Update each month.  Here is a look at the laws that were proposed and those that passed during this year’s NY State legislative session. 

Present and past monthly updates are available on SCOPE’s website under Schuyler Chapter page.

S.C.O.P.E. Shooters Committee On Political Education - Schuyler County (scopeny2a.org)

New York: 2023 Legislative Session Ends in Albany

While New Yorkers were snoozing last [month], multiple gun bills passed. Fortunately, most of those bills only cleared one chamber, but not the other. In order to become law, the legislation has to be approved by both chambers and signed by the Governor.

So what happened this year? The Assembly passed A.2084A which bans lead ammunition during the taking of game on state lands. The Senate companion bill remained in committee. The Senate passed several of its own bills without the Assembly companion bill being adopted. The Senate approved a 10-day waiting period on all firearm transfers by a vote of 42-19, but that legislation stalled in committee on the Assembly side. Several other bills had the same outcome:

• S.1892, which added ammunition to the list of items prohibited from being purchased or destroyed by those convicted of certain crimes, passed the Senate but did not advance beyond committee in the Assembly.

• S.2102 allows law enforcement to take temporary custody of firearms when called to domestic disputes. Again, the Senate adopted the bill without Assembly floor action.

• S.6980A is a child access prevention bill that mandates the dissemination of materials. New York already has a storage law, but this bill mandates the posting of loaded propaganda. It shared the same outcome as the previous two bills.

• Finally, S.138 was a terrible bill, which would have moved the certification of firearm instructors away from the NRA, to a state agency. The bill sponsor, Sen. Sean Ryan provided a telling justification for the bill. According to this anti-gun Senator, “The NRA has a monopoly on firearm training in New York. This bill will revoke that privilege from the chief opponent of our state’s gun laws.” That shocking admission translates into the real purpose behind the bill – political payback.

New York continues to push gun control. Incredibly, what we did not see this session was any sort of an attempt to fix New York’s soft-on-crime criminal justice system or bail reform. Again, that is because this is about politics and not public safety.

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20230613/new-york-2023-legislative-session-ends-in-albany

Here is the list of relevant gun control bills which passed this session:

• A-2209/S-816, Makes clarifying changes to the definition of imitation weapon.

• A-5092/S-4879, Provides that the legislative body of the county of Westchester shall fix the fee to be charged for a license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver and provide for the disposition of such fees. • A-5791A/S-6238A, Defines the term mass shooting for purposes of emergency response measures and access to emergency funding.

• A-5835/S-3436, Exempts applications for an Extreme Risk Protection Order from requiring an index number fee.

http://www.gunpoliticsny.com/?p=27151

New (proposed) legislation strives to combat ghost guns in NYC

Rep. Ritchie Torres says the bill is an effort to get ghost guns off of the street while expanding gun-free school zones. The legislation would also go further than current regulations, ultimately requiring manufacturers of ghost gun kits to be licensed under the Gun Control Act.

https://brooklyn.news12.com/new-legislation-strives-to-combat-ghost-guns-in-nyc

New York to propose legislation criminalizing printing ghost guns at home

New York will try to make it a crime to print a gun at home.

Lawmakers are responding to a surge in gun crimes committed with untraceable firearms, known as ghost guns, increasingly being created using a 3D printer.

Under current New York law, someone who possesses or distributes a 3D printed gun can be charged with a misdemeanor.  A proposed new law would make it a felony to manufacture a gun using a 3D printer.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-york-propose-legislation-criminalizing-printing-ghostguns/story?id=99798986

For educational and discussion purposes only. Not intended as legal advice.