N.Y. PEN Law § 400.03 — New York Code / Act PEN / Part 4 / Title W / Article 400 / Section 400.03
Sellers of ammunition
Status: in_force

§ 400.03 Sellers of ammunition.\n  1. A seller of ammunition as defined in subdivision twenty-four of\nsection 265.00 of this chapter shall register with the superintendent of\nstate police in a manner provided by the superintendent. Any dealer in\nfirearms that is validly licensed pursuant to section 400.00 of this\narticle shall not be required to complete such registration.\n  2. Any seller of ammunition or dealer in firearms shall keep either an\nelectronic record, or dataset, or an organized collection of structured\ninformation, or data, typically stored electronically in a computer\nsystem approved as to form by the superintendent of state police. In the\nrecord shall be entered at the time of every transaction involving\nammunition the date, name, age, occupation and residence of any person\nfrom whom ammunition is received or to whom ammunition is delivered, and\nthe amount, calibre, manufacturer's name and serial number, or if none,\nany other distinguishing number or identification mark on such\nammunition.\n  3. No later than thirty days after the superintendent of the state\npolice certifies that the statewide license and record database\nestablished pursuant to section 400.02 of this article is operational\nfor the purposes of this section, a dealer in firearms licensed pursuant\nto section 400.00 of this article, a seller of ammunition as defined in\nsubdivision twenty-four of section 265.00 of this chapter shall not\ntransfer any ammunition to any other person who is not a dealer in\nfirearms as defined in subdivision nine of such section 265.00 or a\nseller of ammunition as defined in subdivision twenty-four of section\n265.00 of this chapter, unless:\n  (a) before the completion of the transfer, the licensee or seller\ncontacts the statewide license and record database and provides the\ndatabase with information sufficient to identify such dealer or seller,\ntransferee based on information on the transferee's identification\ndocument as defined in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, as well as the\namount, calibre, manufacturer's name and serial number, if any, of such\nammunition;\n  (b) the system provides the licensee or seller with a unique\nidentification number; and\n  (c) the transferor has verified the identity of the transferee by\nexamining a valid state identification document of the transferee issued\nby the department of motor vehicles or if the transferee is not a\nresident of the state of New York, a valid identification document\nissued by the transferee's state or country of residence containing a\nphotograph of the transferee.\n  4. If the database determines that the purchaser of ammunition is\neligible to possess ammunition pursuant to state and federal laws, the\nsystem shall:\n  (a) assign a unique identification number to the transfer; and\n  (b) provide the licensee or seller with the number.\n  5. If the statewide license and record database notifies the licensee\nor seller that the information available to the database does not\ndemonstrate that the receipt of ammunition by such other person would\nviolate 18 U.S.C. 922(g) or state law, and the licensee transfers\nammunition to such other person, the licensee shall indicate to the\ndatabase that such transaction has been completed at which point a\nrecord of such transaction shall be created which shall be accessible by\nthe division of state police and maintained for no longer than one year\nfrom point of purchase, which shall not be incorporated into the\ndatabase established pursuant to section 400.02 of this article or the\nregistry established pursuant to subdivision sixteen-a of section 400.00\nof this article. The division of state police may share such information\nwith a local law enforcement agency. Evidence of the purchase of\nammunition is not sufficient to establish probable cause to believe that\nthe purchaser has committed a crime absent other information tending to\nprove the commission of a crime. Records assembled or accessed pursuant\nto this section shall not be subject to disclosure pursuant to article\nsix of the public officers law. This requirement of this section shall\nnot apply (i) if a background check cannot be completed because the\nsystem is not operational as determined by the superintendent of state\npolice, or where it cannot be accessed by the practitioner due to a\ntemporary technological or electrical failure, as set forth in\nregulation, or (ii) a dealer or seller has been granted a waiver from\nconducting such background check if the superintendent of state police\ndetermines that such dealer is incapable of such check due to\ntechnological limitations that are not reasonably within the control of\nthe dealer, or other exceptional circumstances demonstrated by the\ndealer, pursuant to a process established in regulation, and at the\ndiscretion of such superintendent.\n  6. If the superintendent of state police certifies that background\nchecks of ammunition purchasers may be conducted through the national\ninstant criminal background check system or through the division of\nstate police once the division has been designated point of contact, a\ndealer or seller shall contact the division of state police to conduct\nsuch check which shall be sufficient to satisfy subdivisions four and\nfive of this section.\n  7. No commercial transfer of ammunition shall take place unless a\nlicensed dealer in firearms or registered seller of ammunition acts as\nan intermediary between the transferor and the ultimate transferee of\nthe ammunition for the purposes of contacting the statewide license and\nrecord database pursuant to this section. Such transfer between the\ndealer or seller, and transferee must occur in person.\n  8. A seller of ammunition who fails to register pursuant to this\nsection and sells ammunition, for a first offense, shall be guilty of a\nviolation and subject to the fine of one thousand dollars and for a\nsecond offense, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.\n  A seller of ammunition that fails to keep any record required pursuant\nto this section, for a first offense shall be guilty of a violation and\nsubject to a fine of five hundred dollars, and for a second offense\nshall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and the registration of such\nseller shall be revoked.\n