Fayetteville, AR –-(Ammoland.com)- The badly named New York SAFE Act continues to make the life of the state’s law-abiding gun owners difficult.
Residents who are deemed worthy of a pistol permit – permission to own in their homes, to carry to hunting or target shooting, or carry generally, depending on the good graces of law enforcement – that were issued prior to January 2013 must get them renewed.
Or risk having their weapons confiscated.
Governor Cuomo believes that “when they write the history books they’re going to say, ‘New York got it right,’” whoever “they” might be – perhaps he is preparing copy for the Ministry of Truth. The state legislature predictably placed the burden of getting the word out on county law enforcement agencies, and those people who live in New York City or surrounding counties can’t use the state police website to renew.
The law was passed in a hurry over the objections of sheriffs and county clerks. The original seven-round magazine capacity limit got tossed out in court, while most of the provisions have taken effect. But many owners of so-called assault weapons in the state are refusing to register them, suggesting that the spirit of liberty is alive even in one of the worst states for gun owners.
In the same way that the USA PATRIOT Act was a knee-jerk response to 9/11, the NY SAFE Act came as an effort to look busy after the Sandy Hook school shooting, an example of politicians’ belief that punishing people who did no wrong will somehow prevent such incidents in the future. If the non-compliance in New York isn’t enough to show that a total ban and mandatory confiscation of “assault weapons” would fail, consider the fact that there are millions of AR-15s in circulation alone, not to mention the many other models of semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines out there. And if by some perverse miracle good people could be convinced to hand in their guns, Americans who are already criminals aren’t likely to change their ways by being asked, and enough of them specialize in bringing contraband into the country to make effective control of “assault weapons” a pipe dream. Those pipes could be filled with the drugs that are used to conceal guns as they cross the borders.
The reality that gun control advocates refuse to admit is that the only outcome of their demands would be increased harassment of people who aren’t harming anyone. It’s hard not to believe that this is exactly the purpose of such proposals. We live in a nation that is the main stage of security theater, the promise that if we will take off our shoes to get on an airplane, hand over our drivers’ licenses to buy cold medicine, and tolerate bans and restrictions on a constitutionally enumerated right to save the children, the Millennium will arrive, and we will all be at peace.
Except that plenty of nations have strict gun control and homicide rates that are far higher than ours. And some nations with strict gun laws have rates that are lower than ours. The classic saying is that correlation doesn’t prove causation, but when correlation doesn’t exist, there certainly isn’t evidence for a cause. This doesn’t stop the advocates of control, and it’s up to those of us who care about rights to say no, to remind our elected leaders that their jobs depend on protecting rather than violating those rights.
To Review: if you have a pistol permit in NY acquired before 2013, no matter how many years ago you received it, you need to reapply by the Jan. 31, 2018, deadline or lose your permit. Contact your local county clerks office and thank Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the New York SAFE Act next time he is up for vote.
PS: Did I mention that with your new application you also have to include a list of all pistols and revolvers you currently possess, including the associated make, model, caliber and serial number(s), you know for the safety of the children…
About Greg Camp
Greg Camp has taught English composition and literature since 1998 and is the author of six books, including a western, The Willing Spirit, and Each One, Teach One, with Ranjit Singh on gun politics in America. His books can be found on Amazon. He tweets @gregcampnc.
As a former NYer. I retired to Southen Delaware , no sales tax . Low property taxes, oh yea you can walk into any gun shop and with a quick back ground check you can leave with your gun. It’s also no permit open carry state and it takes 4 to 6 weeks to to get a CC. Permit that covers a lot of other states I love it here.
Some commenters suggested leaving New York, The Vampire State. They have been leaving for years, for many reasons, including Gun Laws. Soon the only ones left here are those of us who can’t afford to leave, and the leaches who live off the taxpayers. Disaster.
I feel for you guys. We live next door in the People’s Republic of NJ (PRNJ), also known as a large open air liberal prison. Heck just the other day there was a piece in the paper that warming up your car you could get a $250 fine. Our new dictator Phil Murphy is counting down the days to sign all those gun laws that Christie wouldnt sign. I think one of the things on the list of things he wants to sign is you will have to renew your permits periodically and be forced to take a class. Just… Read more »
Maybe they haven’t had much luck getting people to submit to the commie cuomo demand is because a lot of those people have moved out of the rat hole. Taxes, cuomo, mayor of nyc and the intense hate for guns is enough to make anyone want to move.
We gun owners have only ourselves to blame. We had the perfect opportunity to fix this mess with Astorino, but no. We couldn’t be bothered to get off of our collective asses and vote the tyrant cuomo out. Instead, we set back and complain about it.
I doubt that there are enough gun owners to overtake the NYC liberal vote. All of the once great State of New York lives in the shadows of urban political desires. The same thing is happening elsewhere, i.e. Virginia where the Washington sprawl into Northern Virginia is turning the entire state blue.
I think there are enough gun owners to make a change but we have to get out and do it. Convince 1 or 2 other people about how stupid these laws are to vote a change. People listen if we dont scream rights!! During the last elections in CA I convinced 5 voters to change their position on some of the gun control laws. It didnt work because the other gun owners didnt even bother to go out and vote, or talk someone else into voting for us.
Is this what happens when you have a criminal sitting in the state house as a governor?
BTW, less than 200,000 “re-certifications have been received by the NYS Police. What does that tell you?
Also, do not attempt to re-certify your permit with the sheriff or county clerk . . that must be done with the NYS Police . . again . . what does that tell you?
Mr. Camp
Educational information (revealed facts)
Succinct points.
Well presented (without bias).
Gun Community
Take note.
This is the future if you don’t get involved in protecting your”Right”!!!
The time is here for you to be a part of the solution. Don’t count on someone else to stand in the gap for you. That kind of thinking will only allow this type of cancer to spread.
@Graystone, Yep, as the human population explodes, the cities will dominate US politics, leading to evaporation of Civil Rights and increase of governmental power. The “take care of me” crowd and a certain type of politician want it that way.
We have a Constitution in America those are our LAWS and our God Given Rights. The Governor and the Houses of New York swore too uphold that same Constitution. Therefore the safe act is a clear violation of said LAWS. One should never have to ask the Government for permission to exercise one’s rights.The Residents Of New York State and other States alike, should sue there respective states and impeach those who break said oaths.
You are ABSOLUTELY correct about one’s RIGHTS!!!!!!!!! A privilege can require fees, permits, licenses, etc. A RIGHT cannot be regulated – it exists merely because you exist.
What is wrong with the people of this country????
I used to live in NY and had a pistol permit. You always had to have every handgun & serial no. listed on the permit. You couldn’t pick up your new handgun until you went to the county clerk and submitted a form to add the make, model & ser.# to your permit (after showing that info on your sales receipt). Then the newly edited permit had to go to a local judge to be signed each time. It’s probably slightly different now, but the authorities always knew exactly what handguns you had. Same for private sale of personal handguns… Read more »
You got yours same time as I did. I left when I sold my business 26 years later, you have to. Once your Reason to have a gun is gone, you need to give up your permit. I left instead. They were always looking for a reason to take away your gun, or guns, They only gave you 1 when I got mine, later I got a second. A rookie cost me 18 months in court for stopping me for carrying my own gun
My 2 sons live in NY (as I did for a major part of my life) and come to visit me in Vermont. We usually meet at the range and they get a lot of fun spending the day shooting with their kids and grandpa. I own and bring to the range, ‘toys’ that they would go to jail for if they were ever caught with them. I hate to see the day end as I know when they go a few miles west of our VT range, they enter enemy territory. They can only bring back pictures in their… Read more »
@ VT Patriot
A good suggestion to any NY state residents who are Liberty minded and can live with out sidewalks,curbs and streetlights they may want to think about moving across the big lake. if they can live without all the amenities of the sheet hole known as New York they can enjoy the second amendment as the founders intended in Vermont.
Yesterday, I read about California’s new ammo laws, today it’s New York’s ‘lifetime’ pistol permits expiration and gun registration. More laws that do absolutely nothing to stop a criminal. We’re headed down the drain with these totally un- constitunal left wing assaults on our freedoms. One can only guess what tomorrow’s news will bring. A sad time in history indeed.
@ RM ML
Quoted for truth !
“The historical reality of the Second Amendments
protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right
to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right
to shoot at them effectively, with the same instruments they would use upon us.”
–Judge Andrew Napolitano
As a point of clarification….NYC and surrounding counties….I believe Westchester, Suffolk, Nassau, all 5 NYC Boroughs, and a couple other counties I can’t recall, have has their own local 5- year permit recertification requirement for quite some time. They were exempted from the Safe Act Pistol Permit recertifying requirement because of this. I wrote about this on the GOA-NY FB page a couple weeks ago.
May I suggest New Yorkers, vote the tyrants out, and unfortunately if that fails buy and use a shovel.
Hard to do for some folks but if you can …… cross New York OFF you list….. the ol’ dollar speaks louder than,…… you know ! I don’t even book my airline trips in or out of N.Y.
“The historical reality of the Second Amendments
protection of the right to keep and bear arms is not that it protects the right
to shoot deer. It protects the right to shoot tyrants, and it protects the right
to shoot at them effectively, with the same instruments they would use upon us.”
–Judge Andrew Napolitano
Molon Labe
Is it “hunting” season in NY?
@RMML, that is such a great quote. I wish that I would have said that!
Has mine since 1991..all on my permit what I have..reason for permit..not a big deal
This proves once again that once a tyrant has your name, your rights will be taken. There’s a side of me that hopes New York owners will stand by their new slogan “molon labe” and force the police to kick down their doors, seize their property, arrest them and try them. It would be the biggest constitutional violation in the history of the Constitution. It would become Cuomo’s legacy. Democrats could boast of the incident for decades. But that won’t happen because people have families to support. Only two viable alternatives remain. First, they can prostrate themselves before their masters.… Read more »
Thanks for commenting on NY’s situation. Next comment on Gov Cuomo’s planned legislation to remove guns from accused domestic violence abusers.
Already A FEDERAL REQUIREMENT.
“… you also have to include a list of all pistols and revolvers you currently possess, including the associated make, model, caliber and serial number(s)…”
Sounds like backdoor gun registration to me.
Actually, it is just plain old “gun registration”….nothing hidden or sneaky about it.
This has been the case in NY for decades….. buy a handgun, take the receipt to the county clerk, have it registered on your permit, get another piece of paper from the clerk, return to the gun shop, get your gun.
Of course, there is a NICS check there. plus, the county clerk can require a “Brady Check” as needed….
A copy of the clerks receipt is sent to Albany and the info duly recorded in the NYS Police pistol permit database.
Here in NY we are accustomed to tyranny. Too damn many Libtard Progressives in NYC for the law abiding voter to rid Albany of the tyrants. As for the “re-certification” . . now, ever 5 years all permits need to re-certified, not just those in NYC. Registration? Yes it is. BUT, when you get a “permit” (you know beg for permission to exercise your RIGHTS) you list all handguns by make, model, and SN. In NY you permit the gun, NOT the permit holder. (BS) Someone mentioned confiscating firearms from domestic abusers. There is already a requirement for felony convictions… Read more »