Senate Bill S5962

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S5962

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to firearms; and to repeal
section 15 of chapter 635 of the laws of 1999, enacting the clinic
access and anti-stalking act, in relation to stalking


 PURPOSE :

This bill would add certain crimes to the definition of "serious
offense" so as to preclude possession of long guns by persons
convicted of those offenses.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill amends the definition of "serious offense" in
Penal Law §265.00(17) to add the offenses of Menacing in the Second
Degree and an attempt to commit another serious offense.

Section 2 of the bill is a purely technical correction to harmonize
amendments to the same provision that is the subject of this
departmental bill. That provision, Penal Law §265.00(17), had been
amended by a law with two different sections that were substantively
the same but different in word order (L.1999, ch. 635, §§ 11, 15), and
              

this bill therefore repeals the latter of those conflicting sections.

Section 3 of the bill provides that it shall take effect thirty days
following enactment.

 EXISTING LAW :

Under Penal Law §265.01(4), it is a misdemeanor for a person who has
been convicted of a felony for a "serious offense" to possess a rifle
or shotgun. The definition of "serious offense" does not include
Menacing in the Second Degree, nor does it include an attempt to
commit one of the listed serious offenses. Penal Law §265.00(17)(b).

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

This is a new bill.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

If someone commits a "serious offense" as defined in Penal Law
§265.00, he or she may not possess a rifle or shotgun. The defined
serious offenses, however, currently do not include Menacing in the
Second Degree, nor an attempt to commit a designated serious offense.
There are different ways of committing the crime of Menacing in the
Second Degree. One way is when a person intentionally places another
person in reasonable fear of physical injury by displaying a deadly
weapon. The other ways of committing the crime are comparable in
seriousness of the threat to the victim. Thus this is exactly the kind
of offense for which conviction should preclude possession of a rifle
or shotgun.  Moreover, if someone attempts to commit a serious
offense, he or she has demonstrated a dangerous potential similar to
that of someone who actually completes the offense, and should be
subject to the same restriction as to possession of long guns.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill would become effective thirty days following enactment.