New York has broadened ammunition background-check rules and approved gun-storage requirements that will apply even in households without children or people prohibited from possessing weapons.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the two measures Wednesday. The ammunition restriction takes effect immediately, while the main storage provisions and related offenses in Francesco's Law take effect 90 days after enactment.
The storage law follows advocacy by Diana Cochran, whose 17-year-old son died by suicide in 2021 after gaining access to an unsecured shotgun. Cochran helped establish Francesco's Foundation and campaigned for stronger storage requirements. Hochul signed the bills at the New Yorkers Against Gun Violence annual benefit dinner on the fifth anniversary of the teenager's death.
Storage rules extend beyond certain households
Francesco's Law, A.1962-B/S.9629, removes a condition that tied the general storage requirement to living with a child or someone barred from possessing a gun. Under the amended text, owners and custodians must secure a rifle, shotgun or firearm whenever it is outside their immediate possession or control.
They can comply by locking the weapon in an appropriate safe-storage container or rendering it incapable of firing with a locking device suitable for that weapon.
A qualifying container must prevent unauthorized access, require a key, keypad, combination or another unlocking mechanism, and resist fire, impact and tampering. Stricter storage requirements imposed by local laws remain in place.
The law also retains specific vehicle rules: an unattended weapon must be unloaded, locked in an appropriate container and kept out of sight from outside the vehicle. A glove compartment does not qualify as a safe-storage container.
The vehicle provision has an exception for police, qualified law enforcement officers and military personnel acting in the course of official duties or employment and complying with applicable storage standards.
A separate offense when a child or prohibited person gains access
The amended law classifies a basic failure to store a weapon safely as a violation. It creates a separate Class A misdemeanor when the owner or custodian leaves a weapon improperly secured in a place where they know, or have reason to know, a minor or prohibited person is likely to gain access, and that person actually gains access.
For that offense, a minor is someone younger than 18. A prohibited person is someone barred under state or federal law from possessing a rifle, shotgun or firearm.
The law includes exceptions when a weapon is obtained through unlawful entry or in a lawful act of self-defense or defense of someone else. The misdemeanor provision also preserves exceptions for authorized lawful use by minors, including hunting with the required license or permit and in compliance with state law.
These provisions replace the previous first- and second-degree storage offense structure.
Ammunition checks must include state gun restrictions
The second measure, S.7236/A.7983, adds a requirement to the state's ammunition background-check law. A purchase must be denied if the buyer is prohibited from possessing a rifle or shotgun under New York law, federal law or a temporary or final extreme risk protection order.
The change aligns the criteria used to screen ammunition buyers with the restrictions that apply to possessing rifles and shotguns. The sponsor's explanation identifies state-specific restrictions, such as certain serious-offense convictions and extreme risk protection orders, that go beyond the existing federal criteria.
That measure was sponsored by Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. Francesco's Law was sponsored by Sen. Erik Bottcher and Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson.
The storage law also requires educational materials about safe storage for people who violate its storage provisions. It directs the state Office of Gun Violence Prevention, working with the Division of Criminal Justice Services, to collect and analyze information about injuries and deaths of minors resulting from unsafe firearm storage and include the information in annual reporting.
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