Opinion

Gun owners have reason to celebrate when lawmakers drop the final gavel in Albany. Late Friday night, legislators finished their work and mercifully called it quits. It was a mixed bag for gun owners as the Legislature passed several bad bills, but some of their other major anti-gun initiatives stalled.

New York’s gun-hating politicians passed bills that made changes to the state’s existing ERPO and storage laws and imposed additional mandates on gun dealers, forcing them to post government-scripted warnings. Legislators also quibbled about how to define “mass shootings.” One of the most detrimental bills to pass was S.8479A/A.9862A, requiring payment card networks to use firearm/ammunition specific merchant category codes for payment card purchases. This intrusive policy invades the privacy of those exercising their constitutional rights to make lawful purchases and can be used for nefarious purposes such as data collection, registration and discriminatory financial practices.

What is truly newsworthy are the bills which did not pass. These bills include:

• S.4818 creates a 10-day waiting period for the purchase of any firearm. The bill passed the Senate 42-19, and the Assembly companion bill, A.5696, remained in committee, failing to advance.
• S.138A, targets NRA-certified instructors, requiring the Department of Criminal Justice Services to certify firearm instructors. The bill passed the Senate, and the Assembly version, A.6663A, remained in Committee, failing to advance.
• S.4976/A.2084A, banning the use of lead ammunition on state public hunting lands, failed to pass either chamber.

Another bill to certify “personalized firearms” or “smart guns” as technologically viable S.7802A/A.8333A, certifying “personalized firearms” also known as “smart guns” as viable technology, failed to pass out of committee in either chamber.

We would like to thank all the NRA members who contacted their legislators. We now focus our attention on November. The best way to ensure Albany stops trampling on your Second Amendment rights is to vote anti-gun politicians out of office. Please continue to follow NRA-ILA and your email inbox for the latest information regarding your Second Amendment rights.

About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org