by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
New York Gov. George Pataki has proposed legislation in his State of the State address that would overhaul the state’s pistol licensing system and impose a new, higher fee system that could price many law-abiding New Yorkers out of the chance to retain or ever own handguns.
The governor justified his enormous jump in fees, including a first-time-ever state fee of $100 for new handgun licenses and renewals, by claiming that it was a means of raising revenue in a state beset by budget problems. Curiously, under Pataki the state mandated a ballistic imaging system for all new handguns, a system which includes some 60,000 guns and has cost millions but not solved a single crime during two years of existence.
The new Pataki package would also make all pistol and revolver licenses renewable every five years and would set an expiration date for all gun licenses which had been issued for life or, as it says on the licenses, “good until revoked.” Licenses currently issued outside of New York City and Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, where permit expiration dates of three or five years already exist, would have to be recertified prior to Feb. 1, 2005. These certifications would later expire on a five-year prorated basis in accordance with a schedule determined by the Superintendent of State Police.
Pataki’s proposed bill would impose a state fee on pistol permits by amending Section 400.00 of the Penal Law to impose state licensing fee schedule on pistol licenses. In the past, the cost of a license varied somewhat from county to county outside New York City, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, with the applicant paying for fingerprinting required for the application process and for the FBI and state check of print records, somewhere between $50 and $75, depending on what the fingerprint charge is. New York state requires that all handguns, whether kept in a residential or business premises or carried for hunting, competition or defense, must be registered to the licensed owner or owners (family member may cross register the same handguns).
The new fee schedule is as follows:
Additionally, statutory caps on local fees would be abolished and such fees could be in any amount as determined by the appropriate county legislature or the New York City Council. Currently, local county fees are required to be not less than $3 and not more than $10 except in New York City and Nassau County where a separately authorized fee structure already exists.
This bill would further amend the state Penal Law to mandate that for the recertification of a gun license a background check would be conducted through the National Instant Check System (NICS) instead of requiring the resubmission of the applicant’s fingerprints.
Local legislative bodies can establish a fee for a pistol license at any amount. Additional local fees for gun dealers, license amendments, duplicate licenses, and license transfers are defined in the Pataki proposal.
The current expiration periods for handgun licenses are currently set in the state statute. In New York City, licenses are valid for three years. In Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties licenses are currently valid for five years. In all other counties, gun licenses do not expire, unless revoked for cause.
Another justification for the five-year term on licenses used by the Pataki Administration is that it would provide an accurate central registry of handgun owners and their firearms. Currently, the state has no exact record of the number of licensees or the number of handguns they possess. A common official estimate of the number of licensees statewide is in the neighborhood of 500,000 people, but there is no estimate on the number of handguns.
Pataki claims that the proposed new licensing process would enable State Police to maintain an updated database on all licensed handguns in the state.