NY Pols Plan To Require Firearms Seizures At Domestic Calls
Police in New York State may soon be required to seize any visible firearms when they attend a domestic dispute call, if some of the state’s politicians have their way.
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A temporary seizure
Our first indication of this proposed change comes from Spectrum News, who was informed of the planned update to the laws by state Senator Pete Harckham.
The proposed law is also being put forward by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, says the state government website. Under the new law, if the police attend an active domestic incident call and observe firearms, they will be required to seize them, holding them for up to five days while working out a plan to protect the individuals involved in the incident, or laying the legal groundwork for long-term confiscation of the firearm or firearms. Under the law, police would not be required to seize firearms they can’t see, unless that firearm was on someone’s person while they were being arrested in connection with a domestic.
The law would not require police to have a court order or a search warrant to seize the firearms temporarily.
Tom King, president of New York State’s Rifle & Pistol Association, was extremely skeptical of the law proposed by Senator Harckham. King told Spectrum News the state’s existing red-flag laws also only provide for short-term, temporary seizures, but gun owners are finding their property tied up long-term by the legal system. See more of King’s response in Spectrum’s article here.
A legal standard
Senator Harckham says this policy will save lives by protecting those at risk in domestic disputes. Assemblywoman Paulin echoes that thought. Harckham also says some police departments already have a policy of temporarily seizing firearms when they attend a domestic dispute, but others don’t. He believes New York State needs a law that standardizes the practice across all jurisdictions. Other lawmakers are also on board, and believe recent Supreme Court decisions will back them up. A similar bill was actually up for vote in New York’s last state legislature session, but the politicos were waiting on that Supreme Court decision before deciding to move forward with their law.