Later today, New York legislators will add at least 33 amendments to the NY SAFE ACT of 2013. The measures are designed to correct dozens of significant flaws in the bill (aside from the ACT’s existence). Plainview attorney Albert Turi agrees with The New York Times’ description of the gun ban bill as a “dog’s breakfast.” “The Governor waived the Constitutional requirement for a three day waiting period for any new bill using his emergency powers,” Turi told TTAG. “The ACT was rushed through without proper thought or consideration . . . There are parts of it I can’t read, understand or digest.” How bad is it? . . .
Yesterday, the State Police had a sit down with Cuomo’s soldiers to try to figure out how to administer a completely unworkable set of regulations. For example:
“When you go to register a gun now in New York,” Turi said. “There’s an hour wait. Can you imagine what’s going to happen when thousands of gun owners attempt to comply with the ACT?”
Not that the cops will know how to enforce important provisions . . .
“Under the new bill, ten rounds is the new 30. You can have 10-round magazines bought before the ban—as long as you don’t load them with more than seven rounds. But you can’t buy new 10-round magazines. How can the police tell if a 10-round magazine was bought before or after the ban?
“Under the bill, you can transfer a ‘military style’ rifle to another New Yorker. It has to be done through an FFL [federally-approved gun dealer] for a NICS [criminal background] check.
“But the dealer can’t sell any new or used ARs. When he calls the FBI for a check for a transfer the dealer can’t provide a sales reference number. If NICS insists, the transfer is dead in the water.”
I asked Turi what he thought would happen now. After New York legislators “fix” the SAFE ACT, will Empire State gun owners comply with its provisions? “I doubt many people will register their rifles,” Turi said, simply.
Plainview’s plainspoken attorney didn’t share my view that this non-compliance could have deadly consequences, if and when the police learn of an unregistered gun and send a SWAT team to confiscate it.
“Failure to register is a misdemeanor. They can’t show up at the door and demand the gun.” Unless they do. I could almost hear Turi shrugging his shoulders over the phone. And then he shared his greatest fear.
“It’s the ammunition provision that scares me,” he said. “Every ammunition sale—even one bullet—has to be reported. The system keeps track of who, what and when; it generates a unique ID number for both the buyer and seller.
“The bill doesn’t say what constitutes an ‘unusual amount’ of ammunition. Or what happens to you when the system flags your purchase. If you buy a thousand rounds of ammo you could get a knock on your door. That’s not good.”
No, none of it’s good. But there is a silver lining in the SAFE ACT, at least for the rest of us. Like the post-Katrina confiscation, the ACT proves that yes, the gun grabbers will grab guns. Civilian disarmament isn’t just a fear. It’s a reality.
Tens of millions of gun owners are waking-up to the need to defend and extend their rights; in their home state and at the federal level. Whether by popular vote or judicial action, infringed upon gun rights will be restored. The question is: what happens in the meantime.
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Americans with a “don’t tread on me” mentality don’t like being tread upon. At all. Despite Turi’s steadfast calm in the face of this constitutional calamity, this could get real ugly real fast.