New York makes it a felony offense for any person, including a handgun license holder, to knowingly possess a firearm in or upon a building or grounds, used for educational purposes, of any school, college or university (except the forestry lands owned and maintained by the State University of New York), or upon a school bus without the written permission of the institution.¹

New York law instructs the Governor to establish “School Safety Improvement Teams,” which may be composed of representatives from the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the Division of State Police, the Division of Criminal Justice Services, and the Department of Education. These teams will review, assess, and make recommendations to improve school safety plans submitted on a voluntary basis by school districts having a population of less than 125,000.²

In January, 2013, New York law was amended to allow school districts that purchase various security devices (stationary metal detectors, security cameras, etc.) included in their School Safety Plans to receive state building aid reimbursement at a rate ten percent higher than their prior building aid ratio. The Commissioner of Education will annually set a special cost allowance for metal detectors and security cameras, and approved expenditures must not exceed this allowance.³

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1. N.Y. Penal Law §§ 265.01(3), 265.01-a. New York also prohibits any person age 16 or older from knowingly possessing any air-gun, spring-gun or other instrument or weapon in which the propelling force is a spring, air, piston or CO2 cartridge in or upon a building or grounds, used for educational purposes, of any school, college or university, without the written authorization of such educational institution. N.Y. Penal Law § 265.06.[↩]
2. N.Y. Ed. Law § 2801-b.[↩]
3. N.Y. Ed. Law § 3602(6-c)(B).[↩]