As the New York State Assembly 2021 session comes to a close, firearm regulation has once again made an appearance. The assembly recently passed a comprehensive bundle of commonsense gun safety legislation, including bills banning ghost guns, prohibiting those with outstanding felony warrants from purchasing a gun, and holding the gun industry liable for damages caused by their products.
“We have seen too many lives cut short and too many communities devastated by senseless gun violence – we should not have to see another person lose their life in a shooting at a school or workplace, or who was shot outside their home,” New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said of the legislative package. “The Assembly Majority has worked hard to address the root causes of gun violence in our state, and the commonsense legislation we pass today will build on that, helping keep dangerous weapons off our streets and make it easier for law enforcement to trace and track down firearms that are used in crimes.”
The legislation passed holds those responsible for the sale, manufacture, importing or marketing of guns liable for any public endangerment caused by their products. This legislation complies with the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) as interpreted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in City of New York v. Berretta USA Corps. The PLCAA has long been used to shield the firearm industry from any sort of civil liability.
“Over 74 percent of all guns recovered from violent crimes and shootings in New York are trafficked in from out-of-state,” New York State Assembly Member Patricia Fahy stated. “Right now, only one industry in the United States enjoys blanket immunity from civil liability under federal law for negligence in the use of their products: the gun industry. Passing this landmark legislation will allow gun manufacturers knowingly utilizing bad actors and dealers to market their products to be held civilly liable for the damage they cause on our streets. We have always led the nation on gun legislation — and we aren’t letting up now to help keep New Yorkers safe from the scourge of gun violence. I thank Speaker Heastie, my Assembly colleagues, and gun violence prevention advocates for passing the Gun Industry Liability Law; it is one of if not the most effective tools we can leverage in the fight against gun violence this year in New York State.”
Also included in the legislative package is the Jose Webster Untraceable Firearms Act, prohibiting the possession of ghost guns for New Yorkers. Ghost guns are defined as unserialized firearms, most often assembled from parts without traceable serial numbers. The act would require licensed gunsmiths to serialize and register any unserialized firearm, finished frame or receiver, or unfinished frame or receiver with the New York State Police.
“New York has some of the strongest gun control laws in the country, and the proliferation of ghost guns - unserialized and untraceable firearms - threatens to undermine our laws and make New Yorkers and their families less safe. New York and the rest of the country has seen a marked increase in the sales of ghost gun kits and gun violence, which make it harder for law enforcement to get dangerous weapons off our streets and track down those committing gun violence,” New York State Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal noted. “Banning ghost guns and requiring that semiautomatic pistols are capable of microstamping ammunition are two ways that we can help law enforcement keep our communities safe.”
An additional act included in the legislation, the Scott J. Beigel Unfinished Receiver Act, would prohibit the possession and sale of unfinished receivers and frames by individuals who are not licensed gunsmiths. The legislation is named for Scott J. Beigel, a victim of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida who was killed while trying to protect his students.
“I commend my colleagues in the Assembly for passing this bill which, alongside legislation recently passed in the Senate, gives New York the strongest ‘ghost gun’ protections in the country,” New York State Assembly Member Charles D. Lavine commented. “This bill will enhance safety to our community and our children by creating much more accountability. It is dedicated to honor Scott Beigel, who lost his life tragically trying to save others during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, 2018. It is intended, just as Scott intended, to save lives. With an epidemic of gun violence plaguing the United States, and in the face of federal inaction in dealing with the crisis, it is incumbent upon the states to enact commonsense reforms that close dangerous loopholes that allow untraceable weapons to flood our communities.”
Additional components in the legislative package include the requirement that all semiautomatic pistols manufactured after January 1, 2023 that are sold or delivered in New York have microstamping expended cartridge cases, the authorization to order searches and seizures of firearms when a person with whom an order of protection has been issued against refuses to surrender their firearms, an amendment to the definition of “disguised gun” to include any rifle, shotgun, or machine gun that resembles a toy gun, and the prohibition of the purchase, acquisition, or disposal of a weapon by any individual with an outstanding felony arrest warrant or on behalf of an individual with a warrant.
“The Assembly Majority is committed to fighting the scourge of gun violence that is devastating communities across the state,” New York State Assembly Member Diana C. Richardson asserted. “We must do so in a comprehensive manner. The bills I sponsored will give the courts the ability to seize guns from those who have an order of protection against them and refuse to give up their firearms, and will also require reports to be published on guns that are used in crimes so that we can continue to craft sensible commonsense policies to protect our communities.”
Mental health facilities will also be required to provide patients and families with information on how to seek an extreme risk protection order prior to a patient’s discharge as part of the legislation, building on the 2019 Red Flag Law, which allows law enforcement to confiscate firearms and prohibit an individual from buying a gun if they are deemed a threat to themselves or others, or if the extreme risk protection court order is issued.
“Too often, we see guns fall into the wrong hands,” noted New York State Assembly Member Amy Paulin. “If you have committed a serious offense, and there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest, you shouldn’t have a gun. In addition, if you are suicidal you should have the information you need to file an extreme protection order preventing you from getting a gun and harming yourself. Guns must be kept away from those who are a threat to themselves or others.”
Finally, the legislation passed would also require the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the New York State Police to publish quarterly reports offering data on firearms used in crimes in New York state. The aim of this measure is to provide lawmakers and the public with a better grasp of how firearms are used in the commission of a crime and to better inform future policy actions.