The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 commonly known as the NY SAFE Act is a Gun Regulation Law. The Law was Passed by the New York State Legislature and was Signed into Law by Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo in January 2013. The Legislation was written in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and the December 24th Webster, New York Shooting. Cuomo described the Law as the Toughest Gun Control Law in the United States.
The NY SAFE Act contains a number of Firearms Regulations. It also contains a Severability Provision that allows other Measures to remain in place in case the Broad Prohibitions against Weapons are Invalidated by the Courts.
The New York State Senate approved the Act on a 43–18 vote on January 14th, 2013. The Vote was Bipartisan, with Nine Senate Republicans Voting in favor. State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein Sponsored the Legislation. The following day, the second full day of the 2013 Legislative Session, the New York State Assembly Approved the Legislation by a 104–43 Vote, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Bill into Law less than one hour later. The Passage of the Law made New York the First to Pass Restrictions on Gun Laws since the Sandy Hook Massacre. Cuomo described the Law as the Toughest Gun Control Law in the United States.
The Bill passed under the "message of necessity" procedure, a Device in the New York State Constitution by which the Governor may Expedite a Vote on a Bill, bypassing a usual Three-Day Waiting Period.
The NY SAFE Act includes the following Provisions:
The Act broadened the legal definition of assault weapon to include those semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic pistols (handguns), and semi-automatic shotguns with one or more "military-style features, such as a telescoping stock, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, grenade launcher and others." This "one-feature test" was a change from the previous "two-feature test," enacted in New York in 2000, which barred such weapons if they had two or more of the enumerated features. The bill provided a "grandfathering" provision allowing those with an assault weapon (under the newer, broader definition), to keep the weapon, but required that it be registered with the New York State Police (with a thirteen-month period to register and a deadline of April 15, 2014). There is no fee to register. Alternatively, owners of such weapons could avoid registration by selling the weapon to a New York State dealer or to someone out-of-state by January 15, 2014, or by permanently removing the design characteristics that make the weapon an assault weapon under the Act. Under the Act, the registry of assault weapons is confidential and not subject to public disclosure. The constitutionality of the assault-weapon prohibition was upheld by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny in 2013, and this ruling was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2015.
The Act included a high-capacity magazine provision, provided that beginning on April 15, 2013, only magazines with a capacity of seven rounds could legally be sold in New York. The Act allowed ten-round magazines purchased before that date, but made it illegal to load more than seven rounds of ammunition into a ten-round magazine, except "at an incorporated firing range or competition recognized by the National Rifle Association or International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association." Historic or antique guns (defined as those manufactured more than fifty years ago) were exempt from this requirement. The magazine provisions were struck down by Judge Skretny in 2013, and this ruling was upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2015, making it so "gun owners can legally load 10 rounds in a 10-round magazine." Neither the Act nor the subsequent court cases affected New York's pre-existing ten-round magazine limit. The Act does not place a limit on the number of magazines that individuals could purchase at any one time.
The Act requires ammunition dealers to conduct background checks (similar to those for gun buyers) for purchases, and bans direct Internet sales of ammunition. (Under the Act, online sales to New Yorkers are still legal, but the buyer must go through a licensed dealer in the state and pick up the ammunition in person). In 2015, Governor Cuomo and Senate entered into an unusual "memorandum of understanding" suspending the ammunition portions of the Act, citing "the lack of adequate technology." The memo states that the database "cannot be established and/or function in the manner originally intended at this time." The memo does not formally amend the Act or have legal effect, but according to the governor's office it "provides assurances to all that the database will not be implemented until it is ready and tested."
The Act amended the New York Mental Hygiene Law to add a new reporting requirement for mental health professionals (including physicians, psychologists, registered nurses and licensed clinical social workers). Under this provision, which went into effect on March 16, 2013, mental health professionals currently providing treatment services to an individual must make a report to authorities, "if they conclude, using reasonable professional judgment, that the individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others." The reports are first sent to county officials, and "if they agree with the assessments, the officials then input the names into the state database. The information is retained for five years. If the authorities find a person in the database has a gun permit, necessary to purchase a handgun in New York, they are required to revoke the license and seize any guns. The people in the database are barred from obtaining a permit until their names are purged."
The Act requires owners to report lost or stolen guns and ammunition to authorities, and makes it a misdemeanor to fail to report the theft such a loss or theft within 24 hours.
The Act created a universal background check provision, requiring all sellers or other transferors of firearms and ammunition to conduct background checks (through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS) of the prospective purchaser or other transferees, in "all sales, exchanges or disposals of firearms, rifles or shotguns" or ammunition, except those between immediate family members, provided that the transferring family member does not know that the transferee "is prohibited by law from possessing a firearm." The Act requires that a prospective firearm transferor and transferee process the sale via a federally licensed dealer (FFL), but "does not mandate that FFLs play this processing role." "An FFL, who does elect to provide the service, may not charge the parties more than $10 per transaction. The seller may leave the gun with the licensed dealer, but the purchaser must appear in person to show identification and fill out an ATF Form 4473," which is retained by the FFL.
The Act requires those who live with a household member "who has been convicted of a felony or domestic violence crime, has been involuntarily committed, or is currently under an order of protection" to "safely store" any guns, using "an appropriate locking device including a trigger lock, a gun safe, or a secure gun cabinet." Failure to do so is a misdemeanor.
The Act amended New York Penal Law to establish "tougher penalties for those who use illegal guns as well as measures to help combat gang violence."
The murder of a first responder engaged in official duties was made a Class A-1 felony, with a mandatory life-without-parole sentence. This was the "Webster provision," named for the 2012 Webster, New York shooting, in which two firefighters were fatally shot by an arsonist.
The Act increases illegal possession of an unloaded gun and possession of a firearm on school grounds or a school from misdemeanors to a Class E felonies.
The Act provided that recklessly injuring a child by a firearm, as well as selling or transferring a gun to an individual known to be prohibited from possessing a gun, was a Class D felony.
The Act provided that "sharing a gun with an individual who is not authorized to possess a gun and commits a crime" was criminal facilitation.
The Act made straw purchasing (buying a gun "for someone the buyer knows to be disqualified because of a conviction of a crime, an involuntary commitment or other disqualifier") a Class D felony.
The Act created a mandatory minimum sentence for using or carrying a firearm in drug trafficking or in committing a violent felony – a minimum of five years if loaded, and three if unloaded, with some discretion for the court to impose lower sentences in drug trafficking cases if mitigating factors are present.
The Act allows prosecutors to seek a sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment in prosecuting gang members when the gang is involved in murder.
The Act requires the holders of handgun permits to be re-certified every five years with the local county clerk or sheriff.
The Act permits the holders of handgun permit "to request that their application information be made exempt from disclosure under state Freedom of Information Law." This was in response to a controversial website set up in 2010 that published the names of permit holders.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
