Senate Bill S2488B

                                BILL NUMBER:S2488

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the penal law, in relation to pistol permit privacy

PURPOSE:
To require that when a person, other than law enforcement, requests a
search of the pistol or revolver automated listing under the Freedom
of Information Law (FOIL) that it is limited to a search by specific
name.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - Subdivision 5 of Section 400.00 of the Penal Law, as
amended by Chapter 332 of the laws of 1994, is amended to make the
names of any pistol or revolver permit holders confidential except if
a request is made under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for a
specific individual by name.
Any requests for the entire list of licensees or for all the licensees
in a geographic area shall be denied except if requested by law
enforcement.

Section 2 - Sets forth an immediate effective date.

EXISTING LAW:
In 1994, Subdivision 5 of Section 400.00 of the Penal Law was amended
              

by the Legislature to restrict public access to the contents of an
approved application for a firearm license, by permitting disclosure
only of the name and address of the approved applicant.

Before the 1994 amendment, subdivision 5 provided that all information
from an approved firearm permit application shall be deemed as part
of the public record and therefore released upon request under the
Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

The law was changed in 1994 to address the concerns that providing all
of the information on a pistol or revolver holder's permit
application could release information which would endanger the life
or safety of the applicant and possibly others. Such information
includes whether the permit holder transports large amounts of cash
or other valuables which would give criminals an opportunity and a
ready source of information to commit a crime against such person.

JUSTIFICATION:
A new abuse of the public access to New York State's pistol or
revolver permit registry now exists due to the creation of websites
on the Internet that contain the name and address of every person in
the State of New York who holds a permit for a pistol or revolver.

As in 1994, the last time this law was amended, there are important
personal and public safety reasons to make amendments to the
information available to the public regarding the pistol or revolver
automated listing maintained by the New York State Police.

As the law is currently written, it allows for an individual to make a
FOIL request through the New York State Police or the New York City
Police for the entire database of pistol or revolver holders in the


State and in NYC. In fact, the Director of Public Information for the
New York State Police has stated that numerous requests have been
made in recent years for the entire database and they have had no
choice but to release the information under current law.

Having this information available online and readily accessible to
anyone creates serious safety issues not only for the permit holders
and their family members but also for individuals who do not have
guns in their home.

Criminals now have a roadmap of the homes that have guns and those
that do not. This can be easily utilized to target homes to steal the
pistol or revolver from the person's address that is listed on the
permit. Not only does this possibly put guns in the hands of
dangerous individuals but it also creates the chance of the permit
holder or a family member being harmed during an attempted robbery.

Also disturbing is the fact that having this list available not only
tells criminals where legally owned handguns are located but it also
tells them which homes are not protected by a person with a pistol
permit. This is once again a roadmap for individuals who want to
break into someone's home to either commit a robbery, assault, rape
or other heinous crime without having to worry that their intended
victim possesses any firepower to ward off the attack.

Clearly, this information in the wrong hands creates a risk to not
only the permit holders and their families but also to their
neighbors and the rest of society. The threat of guns being stolen or
individuals being harmed due to the public access of this entire list
is too menacing to allow it to continue.

Therefore, this legislation will limit the ability of a person to
access the NYS or NYC permit or revolver registry by denying requests
for the entire list or database. However, recognizing that some
individuals may have a valid reason for wanting to know if a specific
person has a firearm permit, this legislation still allows for public
access with a FOIL request. Consequently, to rule out the intentional
abuse of the public access and posting of an entire database or
geographic area of permit holders, this bill will only allow a search
of the list with a request for a specifically named individual.

New York is among about one-third of states nationwide that allow the
disclosure of any pistol permit data.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2010:  S.8456 Rules Committee/A.11716 Codes Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

                                BILL NUMBER:S2488A

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the penal law, in relation to pistol permit privacy

PURPOSE:
To require that when a person, other than law enforcement, requests a
search of the pistol or revolver automated listing under the Freedom
of Information Law (FOIL) that it is limited to a search by specific
name.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - Subdivision 5 of Section 400.00 of the Penal Law, as
amended by Chapter 332 of the laws of 1994, is amended to make the
names of any pistol or revolver permit holders confidential except if
a request is made under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for a
specific individual by name. Any requests for the entire list
of licensees or for all the licensees in a geographic area shall be
denied except if requested by law enforcement (to include any
district attorney office in New York State).

Section 2 - Sets forth an immediate effective date.

EXISTING LAW:
In 1994, Subdivision 5 of Section 400.00 of the Penal Law was amended
              

by the Legislature to restrict public access to the contents of an
approved application for a firearm license, by permitting disclosure
only of the name and address of the approved applicant. Before the
1994 amendment, subdivision 5 provided that all information from an
approved firearm permit application shall be deemed as part of the
public record and therefore released upon request under the Freedom
of Information Law (FOIL). The law was changed in 1994 to address the
concerns that providing all of the information on a pistol or
revolver holder's permit application could release information which
would endanger the life or safety of the applicant and possibly
others. Such information includes whether the permit holder
transports large amounts of cash or other valuables which would give
criminals an opportunity and a ready source of information to commit
a crime against such person.

JUSTIFICATION:
A new abuse of the public access to New York State's pistol or revolver
permit registry now exists due to the creation of websites on the
Internet that contain the name and address of every person in the
State of New York who holds a permit for a pistol or revolver.

As in 1994, the last time this law was amended, there are important
personal and public safety reasons to make amendments to the
information available to the public regarding the pistol or revolver
automated listing maintained by the New York State Police.

As the law is currently written, it allows for an individual to make a
FOIL request through the New York State Police or the New York City
Police for the entire database of pistol or revolver holders in the
State and in NYC. In fact, the Director of Public Information for the


New York State Police has stated that numerous requests have been
made in recent years for the entire database and they have had no
choice but to release the information under current law. Having this
information available online and readily accessible to anyone creates
serious safety issues not only for the permit holders and their
family members but also for individuals who do not have guns in their
home.

Criminals now have a roadmap of the homes that have guns and those
that do not. This can be easily utilized to target homes to steal the
pistol or revolver from the person's address that is listed on the
permit. Not only does this possibly put guns in the hands of
dangerous individuals but it also creates the chance of the permit
holder or a family member being harmed during an attempted robbery.

Also disturbing is the fact that having this list available not only
tells criminals where legally owned handguns are located but it also
tells them which homes are not protected by a person with a pistol
permit. This is once again a roadmap for individuals who want to
break into someone's home to either commit a robbery, assault, rape
or other heinous crime without having to worry that their intended
victim possesses any firepower to ward off the attack.

Clearly, this information in the wrong hands creates a risk to not
only the permit holders and their families but also to their
neighbors and the rest of society. The threat of guns being stolen or
individuals being harmed due to the public access of this entire list
is too menacing to allow it to continue.

Therefore, this legislation will limit the ability of a person to
access the NYS or NYC permit or revolver registry by denying requests
for the entire list or database. However, recognizing that some
individuals may have a valid reason for wanting to know if a specific
person has a firearm permit, this legislation still allows for public
access with a FOIL request. Consequently, to rule out the
intentional abuse of the public access and posting of an entire
database or geographic area of permit holders, this bill will only
allow a search of the list with a request for a specifically named
individual.

New York is among about one-third of states nationwide that allow the
disclosure of any pistol permit data.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2010 S.8456 Rules Committee/A.11716 Codes Committee

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate.