STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5569--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 13, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sen. SQUADRON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to categorizing hate crimes
as serious offenses in relation to possession of firearms and to
repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. (a) As the New York state legislature
2 found in enacting the Hate Crimes Act of 2000, "The intolerable truth is
3 that in these crimes, commonly and justly referred to as 'hate crimes',
4 victims are intentionally selected, in whole or in part, because of
5 their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, reli-
6 gious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation. Hate crimes do
7 more than threaten the safety and welfare of all citizens. They inflict
8 on victims incalculable physical and emotional damage and tear at the
9 very fabric of free society. Crimes motivated by invidious hatred toward
10 particular groups not only harm individual victims but send a powerful
11 message of intolerance and discrimination to all members of the group to
12 which the victim belongs. Hate crimes can and do intimidate and disrupt
13 entire communities and vitiate the civility that is essential to healthy
14 democratic processes."
15 (b) The pernicious harm of hate crimes on targeted individuals and
16 communities is compounded by the use of firearms to threaten and harm
17 the victims. According to one recent analysis, between 2010 and 2015,
18 there were roughly 46,500 hate crimes committed in the United States
19 that involved a gun. The threat of a gun from dangerous extremists sends
20 a clear message that they not only harbor feelings of bias or hate
21 against a particular group, but also that they are willing to kill in
22 service of this ideology. Keeping guns out of the hands of individuals
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11065-02-7
S. 5569--A 2
1 who perpetrate hate crimes is therefore a crucial measure to help ensure
2 the safety of groups that have historically been targeted. Current state
3 law does not adequately ensure that individuals who have been convicted
4 of hate crimes do not have easy access to guns.
5 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 17 of section 265.00 of the penal
6 law, as amended by section 3 of chapter 232 of the laws of 2010, is
7 REPEALED.
8 § 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 17 of section 265.00 of the penal
9 law, as amended by section 2 of chapter 232 of the laws of 2010, is
10 amended to read as follows:
11 (b) any of the following offenses defined in the penal law: illegally
12 using, carrying or possessing a pistol or other dangerous weapon;
13 possession of burglar's tools; criminal possession of stolen property in
14 the third degree; escape in the third degree; jostling; fraudulent
15 accosting; endangering the welfare of a child; the offenses defined in
16 article two hundred thirty-five; issuing abortional articles; permitting
17 prostitution; promoting prostitution in the third degree; stalking in
18 the fourth degree; stalking in the third degree; the offenses defined in
19 article one hundred thirty; the offenses defined in article two hundred
20 twenty; the offenses defined in article four hundred eighty-five.
21 § 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
22 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.