NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2396
SPONSOR: Paulin TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the family court act, in relation to allowing access to
juvenile delinquency records for the purposes of a firearm background
check
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::
To allow the national criminal background check system and the State
Police, which serves as the point of contact for implementation of the
system in New York, to have access to records related to a finding of
juvenile delinquency for the purposes of a firearm background check of a
prospective purchaser who is under the age of twenty-two.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section one amends subdivision 4 of section 380.1 of the family court
act to'specify that the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System and the division of state police may access records related to a
finding of juvenile delinquency for the purpose of conducting a back-
ground check of a person under twenty-two years of age.
Section two sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The United States' gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than that of
other high-income countries like Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.
See Everytown analysis of the most recent year of gun homicides by coun-
try (2013 to 2019) at GunPolicy.org. It is imperative that New York
State take steps to ensure that thorough background checks are conducted
of all prospective purchasers of guns, including young adults.
In June 2022, the United State Congress passed and President Biden
signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), which
implemented a number of changes to school safety, mental health
supports, and gun violence prevention laws. As part of this act, back-
ground checks for firearm purchasers now include an inquiry through the
National Instant Background Check system (WIGS) to determine whether
prospective purchasers who are under the age of 22 have certain disqual-
ifying juvenile offenses. Such offenses include findings of juvenile
delinquency in circumstances where a similar finding with respect to an
adult would be a disqualifying criminal offense.
For the new provisions related to prospect-dye, purchasers ages 18 to 21
to be effective, states must provide access to data regarding juvenile
and mental health records. Amending New York law to permit access to
these records will enable New York to support the new federal require-
ments and help keep firearms out of the hands of individuals throughout
the United States who may pose a risk to themselves or others around
them.
In September 2023, a new New York State law went into effect, establish-
ing the State Police as the point-of-contact for background checks of
prospective gun purchasers. Licensed gun dealers now have to initiate
background checks required by the NICS database by contacting the State
Police NICS Unit to determine each purchaser's eligibility.
By making records of findings of juvenile delinquency available to NICS
and the New York State Police for the purpose of conducting background
checks of purchasers under 22 years of age, this bill will ensure that
we are doing our part to ensure that background checks are more effec-
tive throughout the United States, consistent with the federal BSCA.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
A.10593 of 2023-24/ Same as S.9780 of 2023-24.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::
Minimal.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2396
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 16, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to allowing access to
juvenile delinquency records for the purposes of a firearm background
check
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 380.1 of the family court act, as
2 amended by chapter 37 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, where a finding of
5 juvenile delinquency has been entered, upon request, the records
6 pertaining to such case shall be made available to the commissioner of
7 mental health or the commissioner of the office for people with develop-
8 mental disabilities, as appropriate; the case review panel; [and] the
9 attorney general pursuant to section 10.05 of the mental hygiene law;
10 the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in connection with
11 a background check conducted on a person under twenty-two years of age
12 pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(1)(C) and 34 U.S.C. § 40901(1); and the
13 division of state police in connection with a background check conducted
14 on a person under twenty-two years of age pursuant to section two
15 hundred twenty-eight of the executive law.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
17 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04799-01-5
