Bill Text: NY A06263 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Categorizes hate crimes as serious offenses in relation to possession of firearms.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-30 - print number 6263a [A06263 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A06263-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          6263
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                      March 4, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced by M. of A. WALKER -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Codes
        AN  ACT  to amend the penal law, in relation to categorizing hate crimes
          as serious offenses in relation  to  possession  of  firearms  and  to
          repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative findings. (a) As the New York state legislature
     2  found in enacting the Hate Crimes Act of 2000, "The intolerable truth is
     3  that in these crimes, commonly and justly referred to as 'hate  crimes',
     4  victims  are  intentionally  selected,  in  whole or in part, because of
     5  their race, color, national origin, ancestry,  gender,  religion,  reli-
     6  gious  practice,  age,  disability or sexual orientation. Hate crimes do
     7  more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens. They  inflict
     8  on  victims  incalculable  physical and emotional damage and tear at the
     9  very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward
    10  particular groups not only harm individual victims but send  a  powerful
    11  message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the group to
    12  which  the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intimidate and disrupt
    13  entire communities and vitiate the civility that is essential to healthy
    14  democratic processes."
    15    (b) The pernicious harm of hate crimes  on  targeted  individuals  and
    16  communities  is  compounded  by the use of firearms to threaten and harm
    17  the victims. According to one recent analysis, between  2010  and  2015,
    18  there  were  roughly  46,500  hate crimes committed in the United States
    19  that involved a gun. The threat of a gun from dangerous extremists sends
    20  a clear message that they not only  harbor  feelings  of  bias  or  hate
    21  against  a  particular  group, but also that they are willing to kill in
    22  service of this ideology. Keeping guns out of the hands  of  individuals
    23  who perpetrate hate crimes is therefore a crucial measure to help ensure
    24  the safety of groups that have historically been targeted. Current state
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02177-01-9
        A. 6263                             2
     1  law  does not adequately ensure that individuals who have been convicted
     2  of hate crimes do not have easy access to guns.
     3    §  2.  Paragraph  (b) of subdivision 17 of section 265.00 of the penal
     4  law, as amended by section 3 of chapter 232 of  the  laws  of  2010,  is
     5  REPEALED.
     6    §  3.  Paragraph  (b) of subdivision 17 of section 265.00 of the penal
     7  law, as amended by section 2 of chapter 232 of  the  laws  of  2010,  is
     8  amended to read as follows:
     9    (b)  any of the following offenses defined in the penal law: illegally
    10  using, carrying or  possessing  a  pistol  or  other  dangerous  weapon;
    11  possession of burglar's tools; criminal possession of stolen property in
    12  the  third  degree;  escape  in  the  third degree; jostling; fraudulent
    13  accosting; endangering the welfare of a child; the offenses  defined  in
    14  article two hundred thirty-five; issuing abortional articles; permitting
    15  prostitution;  promoting  prostitution  in the third degree; stalking in
    16  the fourth degree; stalking in the third degree; the offenses defined in
    17  article one hundred thirty; the offenses defined in article two  hundred
    18  twenty; the offenses defined in article four hundred eighty-five.
    19    § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
    20  ing the date on which it shall have become a law.