After trying to read the 23 legislative pages and going to a meeting with assemblyman Angelino, the Chenango County clerk, Chenango County DA, and several others, I ended up with more questions than answers. In her campaign ads, it seems the governor, has chosen to leave out many aspects of the new law. She and the legislature has given us a plethora of new rules and regulations that at the time the law was to take effect, there are no means by which to comply. The law is linked below. Good luck. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/S51001
As of September 1st, we navigated the NYS Police website to a ny.gov Q&A website which is the most coherent guidelines I have found on the new laws and the one we will follow. The link is as follows: https://gunsafety.ny.gov/frequently-asked-questions-new-concealed-carry-law
For those not familiar with the new laws here is a very brief breakdown of the 23 pages that stood out to me. (My eyes began to bleed, and my brain began to fog trying to read the actual law.)
Purchases of any Semi-Automatic Rifle (this doesn’t include AR-15s, AK-47s, or any other type of rifle that cosmetically resembles an assault rifle as these were already banned from sales. This would include Ruger 10/22 and Ranch rifles, Remington 742, and any other common semi-auto hunting rifle models):
1) Must be 21 years of age unless a member of or honorably discharged from a branch of the armed forces.
2) Must obtain a special license from your licensing authority (in the case of most of us in the upstate area, that is our county clerk or pistol clerk. Downstate that is many of the police agencies.) Right now, the clerks are not totally clear on what they need to do to comply. If you already have a handgun license, it is my understanding that you can have that license amended to include semi-automatic rifles. If you do not currently have a handgun license, you must apply for a license and it looks like, as of now, that license will have much the same criteria as one for handguns.
3) As I read it, this license (semi-auto rifles) must be recertified every five years, and failure to do so will result in a $250 fine
4) You are exempt from the license if you already have semi-automatic rifles, however you must have the license for any purchases after September 4th, 2022.
Obtaining a concealed carry license for handguns.
1) Must Complete a 16-hour course and pass a written exam with an 80% grade
2) Must Complete a 2-hour live fire training. (No reference is made for a passing grade that I can see.)
3) Must Submit your social media accounts and passwords of the last 3 years for government investigation
4) You must list four character references. (That has always been pretty much the case.)
5) Cannot be convicted within five years of 3rd degree assault, misdemeanor DWI, or menacing.
6) Must be interviewed personally by the licensing officer (in most cases that is the county judge)
7) Licenses must be recertified every 3 years now (instead of 5)
8) Current licensees in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties will have their licenses expire and must renew their licenses every three years. In addition, they must complete the 16-hour course and 2-hour live fire course. This is not the case in the rest of the upstate counties. However, upstate county residents with a concealed carry license are now required to recertify their licenses every three years instead of five years.
9) Must disclose spouse or domestic partner and any other adults living in the same home including adult children
10) Retired law enforcement will need to apply for a concealed carry license. The training courses required for retired law enforcement and former military personnel are basically at the discretion of local licensing officers.
Ammunition Sales:
1) For right now, as an FFL and holder of a NYS firearms dealer license we have to keep a record of ammo sales including the date, name, age, occupation and residence of the seller and purchaser. Also we must include the amount, caliber, manufacturers name and serial # (?). If no serial # then any distinguishing mark or ID. (?)
2) Retail sales of ammo must have a background check as of 9/13/2022. (That’s as the law is written now.) This was also the case in the so-called SAFE Act, but the systems were never put in place by the state to do so, and the FBI which does the standard NICS background check will only check the sales of firearms.
3) If you are not an FFL or NYSFL, you must complete a “Seller of Ammunition Registration Form” to sell ammo.
All our ammo sales in the future will only be face-to-face. We will only ship ammo to an FFL including out-of-state.
Concealed Carry, Storage and Transport:
1) The state has immensely expanded the list of “sensitive places” that concealed carry is not allowed. I won’t even try to list them all.
2) Any business that allows concealed carry on their premise must post it on the premises. Otherwise, it shall be assumed that concealed carry is not allowed.
3) I’m not even going to try to list the storage and transport laws. You will quit reading. One of the main ones is that if you leave a firearm unattended in a vehicle, it must be unloaded and locked in a fire, impact, and tamper resistant storage depository hidden from view. Don’t keep your pistol in the console.
Other Changes:
Body Armour: Again, more than I want to get into. It is very complicated. If you are interested, look it up.
As I read it, the law considers muzzleloading rifles, shotguns, and pistols under the same criteria as any other, and the same laws will apply to them regarding background checks, storage, etc. I’m not positive as I’m not a Philadelphia lawyer. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Background checks will be charged for once a system is in place. Again, paragraphs are written on this in the law.
There will be court cases pending on these new laws, but these will take years and millions of dollars. The fastest way to get rid of them would be at the voting booth. Though there is skepticism on that happening anytime soon, bear in mind that if every gun owner in New York State voted for a pro-gun candidate, we could easily turn things around. For now though, all we can do is try our best to comply. No matter how burdensome that is becoming, we can’t throw in the towel. That is simply not an option.
Now, probably we will get nasty emails and postings calling me a Neo Nazi fascist, racist, bigot, white supremacist, chauvinist, capitalist pig, and every other name that can be thought of. Before anyone decides to do that, let me point out the information I posted above is 100% factual. Look it up. And if you still decide to attack from behind your keyboard, be ready for a counter that may not be too congenial. I firmly believe that the individual freedoms and security that we have enjoyed for so long in this nation are directly tied to the 2nd amendment. The attempts to limit it, though some may be misguidedly well intentioned, are dangerously short sighted and in some cases malicious. There’s some big money behind the “gun control” movement. Does anyone wonder why? It seems to me that these new laws are aimed at making legal gun ownership more burdensome, time consuming, and costly. They will turn law abiding citizens into criminals just through ignorance of the law’s content. The same was true of the so-called “Safe Act”. If you don’t think so, look that one up and you will see items that you had no idea were law. In the meantime, real criminals seem to have free rein. Again, does anyone wonder why?
I would encourage all criminals to read these burdensome and expensive laws that seem nearly impossible for everyone totally comply with. That way they can have a good laugh at the rest of us who try to be law abiding citizens.
The NYS Sheriffs Association put out a very pointed statement in response to this law when it was first passed in an “Emergency Legislative Session”. I would encourage you to read it. https://nysheriffs.org/statement-concerning-new-yorks-new-firearms-licensing-laws/