Assembly Bill A244

                                BILL NUMBER:A244

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law and the general business
law, in relation to a prohibition against carrying loaded paint pellet
guns in motor vehicles

PURPOSE: To prohibit the practice of knowingly carrying a loaded paint-
ball gun in a motor vehicle, by classifying this act as a violation.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Amends Section 265.35 of the penal law by adding
a new subdivision 4 to state that carrying a loaded paint pellet gun in
or on a motor vehicle is a violation, and amends section 399-r of the
general business law to add a new subdivision (c) and reletter the
current subdivision (c) as (d), to require that entities selling paint
pellet guns shall post a notice of the provisions of Section 265.35.

JUSTIFICATION:  Paintball attacks are on the rise across New York State,
and a series of attacks in Syracuse within the last year have involved
drive-by paintball shootings that have caused serious injury. The City
of Syracuse Common Council passed a resolution requesting passage of
this legislation on October 23, 2006.

Although many people view paintball guns as recreational items, the
danger posed by paintball guns is real. A study by David Listman of St.
Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx reported that eye injuries caused by
paintballs more than doubled between 1995 and 2000. Injuries of this
              

kind can cause permanent damage to vision. Dr, Shahzad Mian of the
University of Michigan Health System's Kellogg Eye Center was quoted in
the Post-Standard on October 30, 2005, that people shot in the eye with
paintballs have a 30 percent chance of going blind in that eye.

In the past few years, a series of incidents in Central New York have
demonstrated just how dangerous these weapons can be. On September 20,
2005, a paintball shooting spree took place that injured thirteen people
as the perpetrators traveled around the City of Syracuse in a motor
vehicle while inflicting injury upon innocent bystanders. On that night,
a 2l-year old Syracuse man was driving his bicycle home when he was hit
11 times by paintballs, three of which hit him in the eye. On the same
night, a 23-year old woman was shot 15 times and lost hearing out of one
ear as a result. On October 16, 2005, a 16-year old high school student
was shot near his eye by four men in a car while he was walking home
from the local Boys & Girls Club. On Halloween 2004, a 14-year old Oswe-
go boy was shot in the eye, causing his retina to detach and leading to
permanent vision damage.

In another tragic incident on April 27, 2003, Central New York girls'
basketball player of the year Whitney Ross had to give up on her dreams
of becoming a basketball star after being hit in the eye with a paint-
ball shot from a green van at a gas station in Syracuse. She experienced
severe vision loss in one eye and eventually had to withdraw from the
basketball team at St. Bonaventure, where she had received a full

athletic scholarship. She also temporarily withdrew from college to
receive more specialized health care for the injury.

It is clear that paintball guns pose a serious threat, and one method of
attack using these guns is to shoot passersby from a moving vehicle. New
York State law prohibits the carrying of loaded firearms in motor vehi-
cles. It is time to extend that prohibition to paintball guns. This
legislation would amend the penal law to render the carrying of a loaded
paintball gun in a motor vehicle a violation, as well as require sellers
of paint ball guns to notify customers of this prohibition.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2007-2008: A.252, Advanced to Third reading.
2005-2006: A.9306, On Third Reading in the Assembly.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the state.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.