File #: Res 1000-2003    Version: * Name: Limit the acquisition of a firearm to one per ninety-day period.
Type: Resolution Status: Filed
Committee: Committee on Public Safety
On agenda: 8/19/2003
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: Resolution urging the New York State Legislature to limit the acquisition of a firearm to one per ninety-day period.
Sponsors: Peter F. Vallone, Jr., Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., Yvette D. Clarke, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr., Erik Martin Dilan, Lewis A. Fidler, Helen D. Foster, Alan J. Gerson, John C. Liu, Michael C. Nelson, David I. Weprin, David Yassky, Christine C. Quinn
Council Member Sponsors: 13
Attachments: 1. Committee Report, 2. Hearing Transcript
Date Ver.Prime SponsorAction ByActionResultAction DetailsMeeting DetailsMultimedia
12/31/2003*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Filed (End of Session)  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/12/2003*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. Committee on Public Safety Hearing Held by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
9/12/2003*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. Committee on Public Safety Laid Over by Committee  Action details Meeting details Not available
8/19/2003*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Referred to Comm by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
8/19/2003*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. City Council Introduced by Council  Action details Meeting details Not available
Res. No. 1000 Title Resolution urging the New York State Legislature to limit the acquisition of a firearm to one per ninety-day period. Body By Council Members Vallone, Addabbo, Clarke, Comrie, Dilan, Fidler, Foster, Gerson, Liu, Nelson, Weprin, Yassky and Quinn Whereas, A thriving underground market for illegal guns, largely driven by demand from drug groups and other criminals, exists in New York State; and Whereas, According to the office of New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, over 35,000 illegal handguns, rifles and shotguns were seized in New York State from 1999 to 2001, and handguns constitute over 70% of the guns confiscated by law enforcement; and Whereas, A substantial portion of guns are diverted to the illegal market through licensed gun sellers; for example, "straw purchasers" buy guns on behalf of others from licensed and unlicensed sellers, and transfer those weapons either to prohibited purchasers or to other unlicensed sellers; and Whereas, The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) conducted an investigation of gun trafficking from July 1996 to December 1998, and found that almost 26,000 trafficked guns were associated with investigations in which there was a straw purchaser; and Whereas, Moreover, according to the Attorney General, this problem is not limited to unlicensed sellers, and clearly includes federal firearms licenses (FFLs); and Whereas, Although FFLs were involved in under 10% of the trafficking investigations undertaken by BATF, they were associated with the largest number of diverted guns (over 40,000 guns), which is nearly half of the total number of trafficked guns documented during the two year period of BATF's investigation; and Whereas, Prohibiting the sale of more than one firearm to any individual as part of the same sales transaction would prevent the illegal diversion of handguns and other weapons to criminals; and Whereas, The State Legislature should therefore prohibit firearms dealers from selling a firearm to any individual if the dealer knows or should know that such individual has purchased a firearm within the prior ninety days; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York urges the New York State Legislature to limit the acquisition of a firearm to one per ninety-day period. TB/MK LS#1610 8/19/03