Let me start out by stating that I live in upstate New York and as is typical here, I own a gun. My son owns two and will probably purchase a third this year. Here in rural New York I assume most people own a gun. Most hunt, but many also own guns as a hobby and as a home protection device. As a non-NRA member I always read first and judge later. I am a non-NRA member because I don’t want to belong to an organization that is part of the problem and not the solution.
When President Obama was elected the first “warnings” from the NRA was “that they are going to take away our guns.” Never happened but did pump up the sale of guns and memberships to the NRA. Understand, the more the NRA can scare you, the more money they make. It’s an economic thing. When Governor Cuomo signed the new New York Gun Law gun sales throughout the country skyrocketed. They want to keep you scared. Scared=Money.
My guess is is that none of those gun purchaser’s read the law. (I sometimes think many couldn’t have read anything). At the end of this post is a elongated summary of that new law, but the short form is simple. It redefines what an assault rifle is and makes the sale and ownership of such weapons illegal. It severely restricts the mentally ill from owning all guns and it requires all gun owners have a background check and to register their guns. (It also requires a background check on all ammunition purchasers).
Currently in New York if you drive a car you are required to register your car and have it inspected. All roads have a speed limit. Everyone understands the logic of these laws. Cars can and do kill. They are dangerous. If your child was killed by a car you might want to add more protective laws to protect other children (like DUI or DWI laws).
You can not yell “Fire” in a theater. It is an exception to the First Amendment. A logical one. No one questions it but if you believe that the second amendment is different, you should stop reading this post now. We are simply not on the same page. If you believe that anyone should have the right to own any kind of gun, no matter how dangerous, you simply don’t understand what “We the People” mean. We give up some rights for the protection and benefit of us all.
Now that the Tea Partiers (or any other’s who believe that there should be no restrictions on anything) have clicked away I can continue with the importance of reading the actual law. If you actually read the law (which can be found HERE, with a summary at the end of this post) you will find little to be frightened of. In fact, the logic of each point will hopefully make New York safer and reduce crime.
Let’s look at each summarized bullet point;
1. The NY Safe Act of 2013 bans semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and pistols purchased after Jan. 15, 2013 that have one prohibited feature – such as a pistol grip, a folding stock or a flash suppressor. This is the state’s new definition of an assault weapon. The ban does not cover pistol grip shotguns. Is there anyone who doesn’t understand that these features are only for killing cops? No one needs a rifle that folds up or suppresses the shooting flash.
2. For semi-automatic guns bought before Jan. 15, 2013 owners must be register with the New York State Police by April 15, 2014. We need to register our cars. We need to register our guns. (Are those finding a problem with registration protesting auto registration)?
3. The registration will trigger a background check through New York’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system. Problem with that?
4. If you own a gun that fits the new law and do not want to register it you have a year to sell your semi-automatic to an out-of-state dealer. After a year, you can only transfer it to spouse, domestic partner or a child. Again, Am I crazy or does this just seem logical.
5. Exemptions exist for relics and curio weapons that may meet the new definition of an assault weapon. Too liberal?
6. You have a year to get rid of any magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds (typically the 30-round magazines grandfathered in under the 1994 state law that previously defined assault weapons and gun restrictions). Under the new law, you can still use 10-round magazines, though legally you can only load a maximum of seven bullets at a time. I’m sure it’s fun to shoot off 30 rounds but this is where we have to sacrifice a little for the common good.
7. Handgun owners must have a pistol permit and re-certify the information in the permit to the New York State Police every five years. The information includes address, date of birth, firearm descriptions and other personal information. Local officials will still hold the authority to decide who gets a pistol permit. Let’s face it. Don’t we all want to know who owns what guns and these are the weapons most used in crimes. Is it too much to have accurate information about the owner?
8. The law required background checks now for ammunition sales through New York’s NICS.
9. All online sales must go through a dealer with a federal firearms license who also is required to do a background check on ammo sales. One more place to separate the good guys from the bad guys.
10. You can sell a gun at a garage sale or another type of private sale so long as the buyer passes a background check before the transaction takes place. The buyer is now required to get NICS clearance for gun transactions. The seller must keep the paperwork and can charge $10 to the buyer for the task. Failure to obtain the background check is a misdemeanor. The background check for private sales does not apply to transfers among spouses, domestic partners and children. Again, this is required for car sales, shouldn't it be required for gun sales?
11. You must secure guns in your home if you live with a convicted felon, someone with mental health issue or someone under an order of protection. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor. Sorry but how many lives will this save.
12. Gun ownership is restrictioned for mental health patients and expands Kendra’s Law, a policy that allows a judge to order treatment for people who typically have very severe mental health problems, such as schizophrenia. The changes expand the court-ordered treatment plan from six months to a year. The law now requires an evaluation of state prisoners who exhibit behavioral problems at the end of their imprisonment to see if they meet the criteria for Kendra’s Law. And the law extends the original sunset in Kendra’s Law from June 30, 2015 to June 30, 2017.
The law requires mental health providers to report patients who pose a serious risk to self or others to local county mental health officials. The county then can report the concerns to the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. DCJS then has the authority to suspend any pistol permit and can require the person to surrender all firearms to law enforcement.
The different facets of the law allow DCJS and the Office of Mental Health to “disqualify” mentally ill people from having a pistol permit or possessing firearms. The state also intends to add a disqualifying notification, without including detailed health information, into the background check database to stop gun sales. Disqualified people can petition the commissioner of mental health for a reversal of the designation. Can anyone have a problem with this?
13. There are a host of harsher penalties for those who break the laws when it comes to illegal gun buys, using guns in a crime, brandishing a gun on school grounds, or shooting a child or first responder. Here’s a summary:
*Makes killing a first responder responding to an emergency a first-degree murder charge.
*Creates a mandatory five-year minimum prison sentence for anyone who uses a loaded firearm during a drug sale or violent felony.
*Creates a mandatory three-and-a-half year minimum prison sentence for using an unloaded gun during any drug sale or violent felony.
*Increases penalties for “straw purchasers,” people who can easily pass a background check who buy guns for others. The crime goes from a misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
*Makes it a felony to possess a gun on school grounds or a school bus.
*Ups punishment for people, often gang members, who use community or shared guns to commit crimes. Can anyone have a problem with this?
That’s it. No matter what you heard. This is the law. Once again, don’t believe me. The actually legislation is HERE. No one is coming for your guns. Don’t believe me, would you believe Bill O’Reilly? Bill O’Reilly surprised everyone by saying on many shows that the “only way to get the guns out of the hands of the criminals is to federalize gun registration”. His concept is simple. Register guns and make having one a federal crime with a 10 year mandatory sentence. He too put it in terms of registering a car.
Before you go crazy about the new New York Gun Law, read it and understand that we may only have this one chance. Once we have some distance from all these school shootings the tide will subside. Its now or never. Now that it’s done in New York we have a big lab. I believe if we look back in New York we will find that the registration requirement will turn this tide.
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