Bill Text: NY S09191 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to requiring social media and search engine reviews prior to the approval of an application or renewal of a license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver; requires a person applying for a license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver or a renewal of such license to consent to having his or her social media accounts and search engine history reviewed and investigated for certain posts and/or searches over a period of 1-3 years prior to the approval of such application or renewal; defines terms.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-11-14 - REFERRED TO RULES [S09191 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-S09191-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9191 IN SENATE November 14, 2018 ___________ Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to requiring social media and search engine reviews prior to the approval of an application or renewal of a license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3, subdivision 4, and para- 2 graph (b) of subdivision 10 of section 400.00 of the penal law, para- 3 graph (a) of subdivision 3 and subdivision 4 as amended and paragraph 4 (b) of subdivision 10 as added by chapter 1 of the laws of 2013, are 5 amended to read as follows: 6 (a) Applications shall be made and renewed, in the case of a license 7 to carry or possess a pistol or revolver, to the licensing officer in 8 the city or county, as the case may be, where the applicant resides, is 9 principally employed or has his or her principal place of business as 10 merchant or storekeeper; and, in the case of a license as gunsmith or 11 dealer in firearms, to the licensing officer where such place of busi- 12 ness is located. Blank applications shall, except in the city of New 13 York, be approved as to form by the superintendent of state police. An 14 application shall state the full name, date of birth, residence, present 15 occupation of each person or individual signing the same, whether or not 16 he or she is a citizen of the United States, whether or not he or she 17 complies with each requirement for eligibility specified in subdivision 18 one of this section, consent to have his or her social media accounts 19 and search engine history reviewed and investigated pursuant to subdivi- 20 sion four of this section, and such other facts as may be required to 21 show the good character, competency and integrity of each person or 22 individual signing the application. An application shall be signed and 23 verified by the applicant. Each individual signing an application shall 24 submit one photograph of himself or herself and a duplicate for each 25 required copy of the application. Such photographs shall have been taken 26 within thirty days prior to filing the application. In case of a license 27 as gunsmith or dealer in firearms, the photographs submitted shall be EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD16703-01-8S. 9191 2 1 two inches square, and the application shall also state the previous 2 occupation of each individual signing the same and the location of the 3 place of such business, or of the bureau, agency, subagency, office or 4 branch office for which the license is sought, specifying the name of 5 the city, town or village, indicating the street and number and other- 6 wise giving such apt description as to point out reasonably the location 7 thereof. In such case, if the applicant is a firm, partnership or corpo- 8 ration, its name, date and place of formation, and principal place of 9 business shall be stated. For such firm or partnership, the application 10 shall be signed and verified by each individual composing or intending 11 to compose the same, and for such corporation, by each officer thereof. 12 4. Investigation. Before a license is issued or renewed, there shall 13 be an investigation of all statements required in the application by the 14 duly constituted police authorities of the locality where such applica- 15 tion is made, including but not limited to such records as may be acces- 16 sible to the division of state police or division of criminal justice 17 services pursuant to section 400.02 of this article. For that purpose, 18 the records of the appropriate office of the department of mental 19 hygiene concerning previous or present mental illness of the applicant 20 shall be available for inspection by the investigating officer of the 21 police authority. In order to ascertain any previous criminal record, 22 the investigating officer shall take the fingerprints and physical 23 descriptive data in quadruplicate of each individual by whom the appli- 24 cation is signed and verified. Two copies of such fingerprints shall be 25 taken on standard fingerprint cards eight inches square, and one copy 26 may be taken on a card supplied for that purpose by the federal bureau 27 of investigation; provided, however, that in the case of a corporate 28 applicant that has already been issued a dealer in firearms license and 29 seeks to operate a firearm dealership at a second or subsequent 30 location, the original fingerprints on file may be used to ascertain any 31 criminal record in the second or subsequent application unless any of 32 the corporate officers have changed since the prior application, in 33 which case the new corporate officer shall comply with procedures 34 governing an initial application for such license. When completed, one 35 standard card shall be forwarded to and retained by the division of 36 criminal justice services in the executive department, at Albany. A 37 search of the files of such division and written notification of the 38 results of the search to the investigating officer shall be made without 39 unnecessary delay. Thereafter, such division shall notify the licensing 40 officer and the executive department, division of state police, Albany, 41 of any criminal record of the applicant filed therein subsequent to the 42 search of its files. A second standard card, or the one supplied by the 43 federal bureau of investigation, as the case may be, shall be forwarded 44 to that bureau at Washington with a request that the files of the bureau 45 be searched and notification of the results of the search be made to the 46 investigating police authority. Of the remaining two fingerprint cards, 47 one shall be filed with the executive department, division of state 48 police, Albany, within ten days after issuance of the license, and the 49 other remain on file with the investigating police authority. No such 50 fingerprints may be inspected by any person other than a peace officer, 51 who is acting pursuant to his special duties, or a police officer, 52 except on order of a judge or justice of a court of record either upon 53 notice to the licensee or without notice, as the judge or justice may 54 deem appropriate. In order to ascertain whether any social media 55 account or search engine history of an applicant presents any good cause 56 for the denial of a license, the investigating officer shall, afterS. 9191 3 1 obtaining the applicant's consent pursuant to subdivision three of this 2 section, and obtaining any log-in name, password or other means for 3 accessing a personal account, service, or electronic communications 4 device necessary to review such applicant's social media accounts and 5 search engine history, review an applicant's social media accounts for 6 the previous three years and search engine history for the previous year 7 and investigate an applicant's posts or searches related to (i) commonly 8 known profane slurs or biased language used to describe the race, color, 9 national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, 10 disability or sexual orientation of a person; (ii) threatening the 11 health or safety of another person; (iii) an act of terrorism; or (iv) 12 any other issue deemed necessary by the investigating officer. For the 13 purposes of this subdivision, "social media accounts" shall only include 14 Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, and "search engine" shall 15 only include Google, Yahoo and Bing. Upon completion of the investi- 16 gation, the police authority shall report the results to the licensing 17 officer without unnecessary delay. 18 (b) All licensees shall be recertified to the division of state police 19 every five years thereafter. Any license issued before the effective 20 date of [the] chapter one of the laws of two thousand thirteen [which21added this paragraph] shall be recertified by the licensee on or before 22 January thirty-first, two thousand eighteen, and not less than one year 23 prior to such date, the state police shall send a notice to all license 24 holders who have not recertified by such time. Such recertification 25 shall be in a form as approved by the superintendent of state police, 26 which shall request the license holder's name, date of birth, gender, 27 race, residential address, social security number, consent to have his 28 or her social media accounts and search engine history reviewed and 29 investigated, firearms possessed by such license holder, email address 30 at the option of the license holder and an affirmation that such license 31 holder is not prohibited from possessing firearms. The form may be in an 32 electronic form if so designated by the superintendent of state police. 33 Failure to recertify shall act as a revocation of such license. If the 34 New York state police discover as a result of the recertification proc- 35 ess that a licensee failed to provide a change of address, the New York 36 state police shall not require the licensing officer to revoke such 37 license. In order to ascertain whether any social media account or 38 search engine history of a licensee presents any good cause for the 39 revocation of a license, the New York state police shall, after obtain- 40 ing the licensee's consent pursuant to this subdivision, and obtaining 41 any log-in name, password or other means for accessing a personal 42 account, service, or electronic communications device necessary to 43 review such licensee's social media accounts and search engine history, 44 review a licensee's social media accounts for the previous three years 45 and search engine history for the previous year and investigate posts or 46 searches related to (i) commonly known profane slurs or biased language 47 used to describe the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, 48 religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a 49 person; (ii) threatening the health or safety of another person; (iii) 50 an act of terrorism; or (iv) any other issue deemed necessary by the New 51 York state police. For the purposes of this subdivision, "social media 52 accounts" shall only include Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram, 53 and "search engine" shall only include Google, Yahoo and Bing. Upon 54 completion of the investigation, the New York state police shall report 55 the results to the licensee without unnecessary delay.S. 9191 4 1 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 2 have become a law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment and/or 3 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 4 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 5 on or before such effective date.