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Only criminals load the full lot into a ten-round magazine in New York. Go figure. (courtesy The Truth About Guns)

It’s one minute past midnight on April 15, 2013. Under the provisions of the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 (a.k.a., the SAFE Act), Empire State gun owners are now prohibited  from loading/possessing an ammunition magazine with more than seven rounds. There are two exceptions: if the owner is loading-up at an incorporated shooting range, or if he or she is shooting at an NRA or International Handgun Metallic Silhouette Association event. Home defense? Fuhgeddaboutit. An owner who dares to defy the SAFE Act for his or her or family’s safety is looking at a Class B misdemeanor, facing 1 to 3 (and up to 25 years) in prison. That puts a pistol-stuffing perp on a par with criminals convicted of manslaughter 1, rape 1 and arsenal 1 (Man United nil). What are the odds owners will comply? Would you?

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78 COMMENTS

  1. Curio or relic magazine? WTF? How will the state distinguish between those and regular magazines? By the date printed on the front cover?

    Love the football reference, by the way.

    • Curio & relic magazines are magazines 10+ rounds in capacity that can only be used in a rifle 50 years or older. So even some like M1 carbines are not exempt due to modern replicas. Also, C&R mags are actually not exempt from the 7-round load limit; they can merely be possessed after the April 15, 2014 deadline to modify/dispose of any 10+ round magazines.

  2. So, I’m assuming that the only semi-auto pistols legal to buy in NY now are 1911s with 7 round mags, and a few single stack CC pistols.

    • It depends on which side of Bloomberg’s bed you woke up on.
      Anyone notice the MSM out cry over civil rights violations with these SAFE Laws?
      goes to prove they are Commie Shills

    • As far as I know, it’s a lot dumber than that. You can buy a 10-round magazine, but you are committing a crime if you put more than 7 rounds in it.

      And I bet a lot of folks will comply, criminals excepted. Getting a pistol permit is quite a hassle even in Upstate New York. As I recall, it involves fingerprints for the State police and the FBI, a letter from your job, and several personal references, and then you wait until the County Superior Court judge decides on your application, which can take a few months. And you have to have lived in the State or maybe even the County – I forget which – for some time, a year perhaps, before you can apply. What you have to go through in NYC I can only speculate. And once you have the permit, if you do anything at all they don’t like, they can pull your permit and you’ll get to surrender it together with your handguns. So, yeah, I bet plenty of folks will load only 7 in their 10-round magazines.

        • You’re actually exactly right. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $2K to a city councilperson should do it.

        • What’s interesting is that at least residence permits for handguns are in theory “shall issue” everywhere after Heller and McDonald. It would be interesting to know if one can really get such a permit in NYC, or whether their issuance is still discretionary in practice.

      • Nope. You can’t buy a 10 round mag after 12:01am this morning. They were thinking of dropping that provision, but I haven’t seen any evidence they have done so. (Though I hear they’re not going to enforce it.)

        Previously owned 10 round mags are grandfathered and legal as long as you don’t put more than 7 in them. And you can have 1 more in the chamber. Oh thank you, Lord Cuomo for your magnificent generosity.

        • WHOOPS! No, 10 rounders are legal again as of March 29. My mistake. This comes from the Governor’s own website.

    • It’s ironic how the formerly evil “Saturday Night Specials” and such are now the main ones allowed with their original mags. The convolutions never stop.

  3. It’s sad that the day some sicko shoots people with only 7 rounds loaded in his magazines, that politicians will simply try to reduce the number more to “save lives”.

    Reducing magazine size is the biggest feel-good pile of crap they can attempt with gun control.

    • Same thought, The standard definition of a misdemeanor is a crime punishable by imprisonment for less than one year, and time is usually served in a county jail. 25 years is a serious felony that must be served in prison.

      Here’s the other big question. I haven’t heard news of any “corrective” amendments being passed, such as the “missing” exclusion of LEOs from the mag limit. If an amendment hasn’t been passed, what are the odds that NY cops will comply with the new law?

    • Please check question 11C on a 4473…

      “Have you ever been convicted in any court of a felony, or any other crime, for which the judge could have imprisoned you for more than one year, even if you received a shorter sentence including probation?”

  4. This is an unclear article and what’s “arsenal 1 (man united nil)????

    Fix it or not…either way nice reporting.

  5. Personally, I’d go to .45ACP Jacketed Hollow Points in the heaviest bullet weight I could get for in home defense…one…maybe two hits should do it. Practice those rounds fired counts and magazine changes until fast and smooth. Add a good laser sight for nighttime. Make sure the spouse or significant other gets plenty of practice, then you should be good to go.
    Oh, and don’t forget to support your favorite Gun Rights Organization in their Legal challenge to this ludicrous law. The price of a box of ammo donated to their Legal Fund could be money well spent.

  6. “What are the odds owners will comply? Would you?”

    That’s not the question. The question is “will they enforce?” And if yes, how much civilian blood will they shed before this is all over?

    • That indeed is the question. I’m still waiting for a much needed revision on this law which doesn’t even make sense on it’s own terms. What’s holding it up is a mystery, maybe the several law suits pending will either stop or dump the entire mess. In the meantime NY can continue to be an undecipherable laughing stock to the numerous wise-guys on this site – until their turn comes.

  7. It seems logical to me:
    1) Add myself to as many class action suits against Cou-oh-no and his wife, the Mayor. There’s no shortage now.
    2) Follow DerryM’s advise.
    3) Get a really good firearms attorney on retainer and speed-dial.
    4) Cancel all psychiatric appointments.

  8. I think most homeowners won’t comply. To some, having someone/prep come into your home and attempt to kill or rape your family is a lot worse than a prison sentence for standing up for your home and family. Here in Ohio we call these guys – men.

  9. Any who comply are slaves.

    Who am I kidding, anyone who lives in NY currently has signed themselves into slavery as is.

  10. funny how the north is now deciding slavery (by law) is socially acceptable.. we here in the Wild West would not tolerate such horseshit. the not-so-united states. home of the submissive, land of the coward.

    • It would depend upon the date of manufacture of the particular AR in question. Any gun that is at least 50 years old is, by definition, a C&R, and the first civilian AR-15 came out in 1963…so there are now a (very) few ARs that are C&Rs.

      In the next few years, I expect that some early ARs will be marketed as such. I just checked a serial number list, and it showed that about 10,000 AR-15s had been manufactured by Colt by 1968.

    • If you do not have a NY License to Carry Pistol or Revolver, please don’t bring it. You could be facing serious legal action. Better yet, visit somewhere else. I live in NY and I am recommending that folks spend their money somewhere where us law-abiding firearms owners are at least respected.

      • Exactly. I live in this mess of a state (for now) and long for the day when it collapses under the weight of its own stupidity.

  11. i thought that they suspended enforcement indefinitely when they passed the budget a few weeks ago. i wouldn’t comply. If someone busts in I have no plans to give them an edge.

  12. As I have said before, load ’em up, shoot enough to leave less than 8 in the mag, and always carry an empty mag so you can claim that you made a tactical reload.

  13. I’d comply–by leaving. What a joke.

    I’m going to feel dirty the next time I have to drive through NY. I don’t carry while out of state, but now I’m not sure I want to hit up the tourist traps in the NY. I’d rather spend my money someplace else.

  14. Needless to say this bill won’t do squat to reduce crime, and that’s the point. Bloomberg’s (and by extension Cuomo’s) Holy Grail is to force other states to bow in submission and accept whatever draconian gun control measures he demands of them.

    As this bill fails, Bloomberg will point and say “It’s not enough, I told you so!” and claim that legally sold guns in ME, NH, VT, PA and VA are being trafficked into the state.

    This is only the beginning. It’s gonna get ugly when the tories in New York try coming after free states.

  15. Of course any of these restrictions would be ok if they only applied to someone whilst committing a felony.

  16. I hope the north continues to disarm their citizens while the gun friendly states of the south encourage their law abiding citizens to arm themselves. We’ll keep your criminals up north and send you a few of ours to boot….

    • You are allowed 7 + 1 for now. Soon enough Andy will address the + 1 “loophole” and decree “No loaded chambers”. Watch for it.

    • Right, the backlash from upstate is massive with practically all counties north of Westchester, lots of Towns and Sheriffs on record as rejecting it, something will have to give but – like most things around here – probably at the last minute.

  17. Ironically, a larger capacity magazine loaded to less than its full capacity is probably more reliable than one of lower capacity. So, a spree-killer who followed the SAFE act might have less chance of a malfunction.

    With that class B misdemeanor I bet a spree-kill might not want that tacked on to his killing spree. 🙂

  18. This is how the communists/socialists/progressive/statists achieve their goals, by dividing the population and creating strife.

    NYers are now encouraged to snitch eachother out in a carbon copy of 1984.

    Coming to your state soon?

    1-855-GUNSNYS

  19. The timing of New York’s ban on more than 7-rounds in a magazine couldn’t have been better, eh? Terrorists attack Boston and New York neuters its law-abiding citizens on the same day.

  20. Fellow patriots, When kings and governments usurp our natural Rights, it is time
    to rebel against the tyranny!

    When I shipped out of New York for Germany, in 1977, I vowed to never return.
    Too bad that some states usurp the Rights of citizens, which I served for 20 years, to defend!

    Oath of Enlistment

    I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

    I keep and bear arms, even retired, for that oath! Oaths NEVER expire!

  21. If my G22 holds 15 in the magazine, then there will be 15 in the gun, in MY home. If a pig were to come to take it (thank God I dont live in NY), he/she will become bacon.
    Next time, you morons (who voted for Obummer) had better NEVER vote libtard (democrat) again.
    Liberalism is a mental disorder.

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