Assembly Passes Comprehensive Gun Package

Measures Seek to Reduce Gun-Related Domestic Violence Incidences; Protect Children; Enhance Gun Safety Education and Awareness

Pat Gioia, representing the Capital District Crime Victims' Coalition and the New York State Parents of Murdered Children called the Assembly's gun package "important to the health, welfare and the lives of every New Yorker."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol today announced Assembly passage of a 7-bill package aimed at reducing the number of illegal guns, protecting victims of domestic violence and safeguarding children from firearms by ensuring weapons are safely stored.

At a Capitol news conference announcing the comprehensive anti-gun violence and firearm safety initiatives, Silver and Lentol were joined by victims of gun crimes and other gun safety advocates and Assembly members sponsoring the legislation.

Silver noted that the Assembly's package seeks to crack down on persistent incidences of gun crimes with bills that impose stricter penalties on illegal gun trafficking, improve ballistics identification databases and ban gun ownership for violent felons.

"Gun violence is still prevalent throughout our nation and can have a devastating impact on communities," said Silver (D-Manhattan). "The Assembly's comprehensive package addresses safety issues by holding owners and manufacturers responsible for providing reasonable, common-sense provisions for the safe storage and use of weapons. We seek stricter penalties for those who profit from illegal gun trafficking and provide law enforcement with tools to prosecute those who would seek to commit gun crimes."

"The Assembly Majority's gun safety package would enact strong new laws to keep guns out of the hands of children, crack down on violent criminals who use firearms, and enact common-sense measures to ensure that guns are possessed for lawful purposes like self-defense and hunting," said Lentol (D-Brooklyn).

Participating in the news conference as sponsors of the measures were Assembly members Harvey Weisenberg, Stephen Kaufman, Steven Englebright, David Koon, Patricia Eddington, Amy Paulin and Daniel O'Donnell.

"We applaud the Assembly's action today to increase public safety and save lives by reducing the number of illegal guns, protecting children and families and providing law enforcement with state of the art investigative tools. These measures build upon the strong foundation of laws passed in 2000 and we call upon the Senate and the Governor to ensure that these bills become law," said Andy Pelosi, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

In remarks at the press conference, Pelosi also noted that two former New York City police officers, members of his board, endorsed the 7 bill package as a positive step for helping law enforcement officers who are the front line in the war on crime.

Cracking Down on Illegal Gun Trafficking (A.8456-B/Paulin)
Noting that one percent of gun dealers account for more than half of the legal guns that make their way into the illegal market Silver said it was important to take a two-pronged approach to address gun trafficking. To that end, this bill not only takes aim at illegal trafficking but also imposes penalties on legal gun dealers guilty of dumping guns into the illegal market.

Andy Pelosi, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence expresses his strong support for the Assembly's comprehensive 7-bill gun safety package.

The bill imposes regulations on gun dealers to stop the flow of illegal weapons and also significantly increases criminal penalties for illegal gun possession and sales. The bill also requires stringent recordkeeping and reporting to prevent gun sales to criminals. Additionally, gun dealers must implement a security plan, require employee training and prohibit minors access to guns without an adult under terms of the legislation.

"The gun culture in our country is a dangerous one. Too many criminals are getting their hands on firearms and compromising the safety of our neighborhoods," said Paulin (D-Scarsdale). "This legislation will make it more difficult for criminals to obtain firearms and increases the criminal penalties for those who illegally possess and traffic in multiple guns from other states."

The Children's Weapon Accident Prevention Act (A.4615-C /Weisenberg)
This legislation seeks to protect children from accidental shootings. Five new categories of crime would be created for negligent storage of a weapon under the bill's provisions. In addition, gun retailers would be required to alert consumers about the new safe weapons storage requirements and the New York State Education Department would have to develop a weapons safety program to teach children how to prevent weapon accidents.

"Clearly, this legislation will save lives," said Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), sponsor of the bill. "It does this by educating and informing all gun owners of the responsibility of safe storage of all firearms so that children don't have access to a loaded weapon. This legislation does not target gun ownership but is aimed at making the public aware of the paramount need to require the safe storage of guns."

Childproofing Firearms (A.3311/Englebright)
This bill would reduce child-related shootings, particularly those tragedies of children shooting children. This bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor to sell guns without childproof features. Covered under provisions of the bill are pistols or revolvers manufactured 12 or more months after the effective date of the bill. Design features could include the capacity to adjust the trigger resistance of the gun to at least a 10-pound pull, to alter the firing mechanism so that an average five-year-old child's hand would be too small to operate the gun or to require a series of multiple motions in order to fire the gun.

"When you consider how easily even a 4 year old can pull the trigger of a gun," Englebright said, "requiring child-proofing features on guns is a common sense way to prevent needless and deadly gun tragedies," said Englebright (D-East Setauket).

Silver, joined by Assembly members Pat Eddington (left) David Koon (far left), encouraged the governor and the Senate to join the Assembly in better protecting all New Yorkers from gun violence

Keeping Guns Out of the Hands of Violent Felons (A.4428/Kaufman)
This bill would eliminate the ability of violent felons to be issued a "certificate of good conduct" to possess a rifle or shotgun lawfully. It also would eliminate the ability of felons who are issued a certificate of relief from disabilities or certificate of good conduct to obtain a firearms license.

Silver noted that under current law, convicted felons can lawfully possess a rifle or shotgun and obtain a firearms license if they obtain a certificate of good conduct or a certificate of relief from disabilities. This bill narrows the relief afforded by these certificates to prevent convicted felons from obtaining a firearms license. It also criminalizes the possession of a rifle or shotgun by a convicted felon.

"Granting violent felons the opportunity to possess a firearm is insane and poses a danger to public safety," said Kaufman (D-Bronx). "This bill removes a very large loophole that can put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals.

Domestic Violence (A.6820/O'Donnell)
This bill seeks to protect victims of domestic violence by requiring criminal or family court judges to inquire about the existence and location of firearms owned or possessed by a defendant when an order of protection is sought. Expressing concern that while current law provides for the mandatory revocation or suspension of firearms licenses upon the issuance of orders of protection, it does not require the court to inquire about where those weapons are, said O'Donnell, sponsor of the measure.

"This legislation provides a starting point in improving laws that currently leave a great deal to be desired," said O'Donnell (D-Manhattan). "When it is determined by the courts that someone poses a threat to the well-being of another, one of the best ways to disarm a potentially volatile situation is to arm our judiciary with all the facts concerning the possession of deadly weapons."

Banning .50 Caliber Weapons (A.7039/Eddington)
This bill would prohibit the possession, use, transport, disposal, defacing or sale of 50 caliber weapons. Silver noted that this common-sense ban seeks to stop the use of .50 caliber sniper rifles, which are capable of disabling armored personnel carriers used by the military. This bill would institute a reimbursement program where dealers would be entitled to return these weapons to manufacturers for a refund or credit equal to the purchase price. Also eligible for reimbursement under the program would be any person lawfully possessing .50 caliber weapons prior to the bill's enactment. Weapons could be surrendered to state police for a fair-market-value rate of up to $8,500.

"Fifty caliber weapons serve no legitimate non-military function. In fact, these guns are on terrorist wish lists because of the massive damage they can inflict," said Eddington (WFP/D/I-Medford). "These guns can be used to take down planes and kill people from miles away -- our families will be safer with 50 caliber weapons out of New York."

Tracking Guns Involved in Crimes (A.8542-B/Koon)
Under legislation sponsored by Koon, the current system for tracking guns used in crimes would be expanded and improved so that when crimes are committed, law enforcement officials have a better chance of bringing violent criminals to justice, even when a crime gun is not recovered. Under the bill's provisions, the state's Combined Ballistic Identification System (CoBIS) would be expanded to include casings from all long guns and both bullets and casings from guns that do not readily eject casings on firing.

In addition to enlarging the gun ballistics identification database, which was created four years ago, the bill also would implement a more comprehensive registration process.

"Until we require that every gun that comes into the hands of law enforcement be entered into the CoBIS clearinghouse and that every suspicious gun be compared to the ballistic database, we allow violent criminals to literally get away with murder," said Koon (D/I-Perinton). "And if we want the gun clearinghouse and ballistic fingerprinting database to be truly effective crime-fighting tools, we must test all guns, not just handguns."

List of Groups Attending the News Conference In Support of the Assembly Gun Package:

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence
Andy Pelosi, Executive Director
Barbara Hohlt, Board member
Joan Wallstein, Board member
Jackie Kuhls, Public Policy Director
Richard Wooding, Honorary Bd Member (survivor)
Ken Scott, Faculty advisor, College of St. Rose Chapter
St. Rose students Greg Young and Maggie Zmuda

Million Mom March
Edie Smith, State Council President

Capital District Crime Victims' Coalition and NYS Parents' of Murdered Children
Pat Gioia

League of Women Voters of NYS
Aimee Allaud
Barbara Bartoletti

Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany
Barbara DiTomasso

Statewide Youth Advocacy
Elie Ward, Executive Director