The Also Rans

SCOPE recently published a list of the 10 Most Egregious Bills currently proposed in the NY Legislature.  There was a lively discussion to establish which 10 were the worst.  There were some deserving runner ups and we wanted you to see some of them.

A360

Requires a person to apply for a hunting license prior to the purchase of a shotgun or rifle. 

Additional requirements for all shotguns and rifles include taking a five hour gun safety course and exam, passing a shooting range test with 90% accuracy, providing notarized proof of a passed drug test and mental health evaluation, providing proof of purchase of ammunition safe storage depositories and passing a criminal background check.

A5817

Enhancing sentences for certain offenses involving weapons within 5,000 feet on or near school grounds.

S399 and A199

A Convertible pistol means any semi-automatic pistol that can be converted into a machine-gun solely by the installation or attachment of a pistol converter.  Any person, dealer, firm, partnership, or corporation who disposes of or who transports or ships as merchandise or who disposes of a convertible pistol is guilty of a class D felony.

All semi-automatic firearms are potentially convertible into an automatic, even if the technology does not yet exist. 

S4807

Relates to limiting the acquisition of a rifle or shotgun to one per ninety-day period.

S227 and A1777

A person who intentionally sells, distributes, or disposes of a three-dimensional printed firearm is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

S4277

The possession of 50 caliber or larger weapons is banned.

S5292

Prohibits the sale of a firearm, rifle, shotgun or ammunition on state property including state and county fairgrounds, and county, city and municipal property.  Designates offense as a class A misdemeanor.

S4388

Prohibits gun industry members from marketing firearms and firearm related products to minors; excepts instances where marketing is geared toward hunting purposes.

A1962 and S3385

Establishes violations for the failure to safely store rifles, shotguns, and firearms in the presence of a minor or a prohibited person; repeals certain provisions relating thereto.

S1985

Requires police officers to take temporary custody of firearms for not less than one hundred twenty (120) hours when responding to reports of family violence.  (was 48 hours)

A2084 and S1289

Establishes the office of gun violence prevention and the gun violence advisory council.

S2547

Establishes a minimum age to possess a firearm.

S1273

Bans openly carries a rifle or shotgun on or about such person.  “Openly carries" means to carry a rifle or shotgun in a manner that renders such rifle or shotgun, or any portion thereof, visible to others.   Exception for hunting.             

A1920

Prohibits entry to gun shows to anyone under twelve years of age.

A5105

A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree when such person is not licensed as a gunsmith or a dealer in firearms with intent to manufacture and/or distribute such firearms pursuant to section 400.00 of this chapter and, knowing it is a ghost gun, such person possesses a ghost gun.

Since the legislature is in session. We fully expect there will be more introduced that are candidates for the top 10.

Tesla

An online map, decorated with an image of a Molotov cocktail, went live this Monday.  It displayed the names, addresses and contact information of Tesla owners and dealerships and members of the Trump administration. The site is reported as saying that the only way to get off the list is to prove that you’ve sold your car.

Given all the recent terrorist actions against Tesla dealers and owners, this is of genuine concern to Tesla dealers and owners.

Why is it of concern to 2nd Amendment defenders (who don’t own Teslas?)

Also this week, a massive cyberattack on Israeli government agencies and private security firms - allegedly orchestrated by Iranian hackers - has exposed names, addresses, firearm details, and even military and medical information on thousands of Israeli gun owners, raising alarms about national security and the dangers of centralized gun databases.

Anyone identified as a gun owner in Israel is now vulnerable to every would-be terrorist.

Ammoland sums it up well: “The Israeli data breach mirrors concerns that have been raised for years in the United States. The ATF’s database, combined with efforts to track firearm transactions indefinitely, could one day be weaponized against law-abiding gun owners.”

“Gun owners in the U.S. should take this as a cautionary tale. If hostile foreign actors can compromise Israeli security databases, what’s stopping similar groups—or even an overreaching domestic agency—from misusing American gun owner data? The best way to protect gun owners from cyber threats, government overreach, and criminal targeting is simple: don’t maintain a registry in the first place.”

U.S. federal law forbids federal gun owner registries but federal bureaucrats (especially the ATF) have often ignored or worked around the law and created would be gun registries, especially during the Biden administration when they were free from consequences. 80 to 100 million American gun owners must not be put in the same vulnerable position as their Israeli counterparts.

Tesla benefits, directly and indirectly, from mammoth government subsidies and has been the darling of the green new deal.   A few months ago, who would have believed that Tesla would now be the enemy of those same leftists and subject to their acts of terrorism.  If it can happen to tesla, gun owners are even less protected. 

Do you doubt that Iran or China or Russia would love to hack into a list of U.S. gun owners?

In an era of cyber warfare and government overreach, centralized gun registries are a liability. Gun registries put every gun owner in potential danger from anti-gun terrorists, just as Tesla owners are now endangered.

Firearms for Those Under 21

Many Democrat majority states, including New York State, are trying to ban firearm sales to those under 21.  NY Assembly proposed bill A346 tries to do this in NY State and made SCOPE’s list of the “10 Most Egregious Proposed Bills.”

Florida – of all places – passed such a bill a few years ago.  It is being challenged in court by the NRA.

The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals has let stand a Florida statute barring the purchase of long guns by young adults in the 18-to-20-year age group.

However,

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier won’t defend the law if appealed to the U S Supreme Court!

Uthmeier wrote, “Upon assuming office, I tasked my staff with reviewing Florida’s underlying law and whether it was consistent with the Second Amendment. Notwithstanding CA11’s opinion today, I believe restricting the right of law-abiding adults to purchase firearms is unconstitutional. The Fifth Circuit quite recently reached the same conclusion. If the NRA decides to seek further review at SCOTUS, I am directing my office not to defend this law. Men and women old enough to fight and die for our country should be able to purchase firearms to defend themselves and their families.” (Emphasis added.)

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a federal law prohibiting those under age 21 from purchasing handguns violates the Second Amendment.  When there is a disagreement between sides, the U S Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has to decide, if appealed and if SCOTUS takes up the case.

The majority opinion in the Florida case said, “The Florida law that prohibits minors from purchasing firearms does not violate the Second and Fourteenth Amendments…because it is consistent with our historical tradition of firearm regulation…During the Founding era, minors generally lacked unrestricted access to firearms.”

“The age of the majority ‘remained unchanged’ in the United States “from the country’s founding well into the twentieth century.” When World War II necessitated lowering the conscription age to 18, states lowered the age of majority too. And, in 1971, the ratification of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote to individuals at the age of 18. But for much of the first two centuries of our nation, our law limited the rights of individuals under the age of 21, including their purchase of firearms.

The dissenting opinion wrote, “In the absence of historical precedent, the Second Amendment does not allow for a categorical ban on the ability of law-abiding adults to purchase a firearm for self-defense. The majority opinion’s contrary conclusion is hard to understand as anything other than a declaration that Second Amendment rights—alone among all our constitutional rights—start at the age of twenty-one. This conclusion splits with at least three sister circuits. And it is inconsistent with Supreme Court precedent. The Supreme Court has warned us that the Second Amendment is not a ‘second-class right,’ subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees. But the majority has read an age limit into the Second Amendment and that amendment alone.”

The dissent continued, “The Commissioner has presented no analogous Founding-era regulation that precluded young adults from purchasing firearms. The record of historical statutes the Commissioner did compile, which does not begin until the 1850s, does not establish a tradition of outlawing all firearms purchases by eighteen- to twenty-one-year-olds. These statutes were passed many years after the Founding…”

It generally takes years for the courts to decide these cases.  In the meantime, we must stop NY A346 from being enacted so we do not have to live under it, until SCOTUS decides. 

Bobbie Anne Cox will be the guest speaker Attorney Bobbie Anne Cox will be the speaker at our Members Meeting on April 26th. She has described Kathy Hochul as an elitist Governor…and her lawless Department of Health. Bobbie Anne is a 2023 Brownstone Institute Fellow and an attorney with 25 years of experience in the private sector. She passionately defends and preserves the Constitution against egregious government overreach, defending citizens against tyrannical acts of heavy-handed government. Are you familiar with the NYS Department of Health (DOH) “Isolation and Quarantine Procedures” regulation?  You should be.  It’s another attack on our liberties by Governor Kathy Hochul and her administration Here is what Attorney Bobbie Anne Cox had to say about it in the American Thinker: “Imagine a land where the government has the power to lock you up because the unelected bureaucrats in the Health Department think that you might, possibly have a communicable disease. They don’t have to prove you are sick. They don’t have to prove you are a health threat to others…and you must stay there for however long they want. No time limit.” “No chance to prove that you aren’t actually infected with the disease. No chance to confront your jailers, see their supposed evidence against you or challenge their quarantine order in a court of law before getting locked up. And they can use law enforcement to help them carry out their forced quarantine… “ Sounds a lot like Red Flag laws (Extreme Risk Protection Orders) where your guns are taken away without “due process of Law.”  You know-that part of those pesky 5th and 14th Amendments that Kathy Hochul and the NY Legislature ignore, at will. Cox went to court and successfully got it struck down before it could become a permanent regulation; it does not exist today. However, the Appeals Court reversed the decision and dismissed the case because the plaintiffs did not have standing…Some of the plaintiffs were NYS legislators and they didn’t have standing!  The DOH is now free to reissue its dystopian regulation. There is nothing stopping the tyranny of the NYS Executive Branch and its unconstitutional DOH, now.  Cox also worked with Lee Zeldin to prevent the unconstitutional gerrymandering of the Congressional lines in New York State by the Democrats.  Cox formed Stop NY Corruption and with help from other members of NY’s Congressional delegation were successful in preventing that shameful political ploy to illegally retake the House of Representatives.  Cox again teamed up again with Congressman Zeldin and together with her organization, Vote NO on Prop One Committee, fought against the radical Dems that run NYS with their dishonest campaign to pass Prop 1. Bobbie Anne Cox has been a David versus Goliath fighter for our rights against the far-left assault on those rights, in New York State.  The Members Meeting will give you a chance to hear her stories, ask questions and develop a strategy to protect all our rights – especially our 2nd Amendment protected rights.                      _________________________________________________ Member Meeting RSVP FORM

Beware of Pit Bulls in Bed

Tennessee: Pit Bull Accidentally Shoots Its Sleeping Owner

Read the comments, too!

___________________________________________________

A NY City resident, Joseph Garofalo, applied for two licenses to possess and purchase firearms: one for a Premise Residence handgun license; one for a rifle/shotgun license. The New York Police Department (“NYPD”) License Division denied both applications. The rationale for denying him was that Garofalo lacked the needed “good moral character” to have a gun.  He appealed the denials and lost both appeals.

Mr. Garofalo had some issues in that he had previously violated a protective order and been arrested for domestic abuse.  He was never convicted of any crime and he did not disclose any of this on his application.

The NY Police Department denied his permit on the basis that Garofalo did not disclose this negative information on his application.

Garofalo sued NY City claiming that NY City violated his Second and Fourteenth Amendments and that the law is “arbitrary and capricious.”

New York City has settled the case and agreed to pay $10,001 to Garofalo.

Why did NYC settle?  Did NYC believe it would not win the case and that it could destroy the entire law?  NYC doesn’t admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, meaning the law can continue.

It could also have been settled because defending it was more costly than settling.

This might be a good sign that the anti-gun left believes the law on “good moral character” can be overturned.

_______________________________________________________________

You have probably saw or have seen something about the Democrats’ actions during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.  It could have been worse.

In Serbia’s parliament, opposition lawmakers unleashed smoke bombs, flares, and tear gas causing three injuries.  (Opposition lawmakers are the Serbian equivalent of Democrats.)

A Few Lawsuits and Things

SCOPE sent an E mail reminding people about the SAFE Act.  A sharp-eyed SCOPE member caught an issue:

The footnotes contained the statement: A shotgun is considered an “assault weapon” if …

It should have said: a   semi-automatic shotgun is considered an assault weapon if…

Oops.  My bad!

F Y I about this case: A Western District of New York federal court made a decision to stop the 7 round limit in a magazine but that did not cover all of NY State. 

But when NY Attorney General Letitia James appealed it to the federal 2nd Circuit and lost, that extended the decision to ALL of NY State since the 2nd Circuit covers ALL of NYS. 

A Circuit Court decision is binding precedent for lower federal district courts in that circuit; they are required to follow it.

Latetia James seems to appeal every negative gun decision but sometimes those appeals bring negative consequences - to her way of thinking.

 _____________________________________________________________

The Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) has generated so many lawsuits that it is difficult to keep track of them.  Here’s an update on one of them.

The Christian v. James lawsuit challenges CCIA’s banning firearms on all publicly accessible private property without the express consent of the owner.

The Western District of NY delivered judgment against NY State, in January. Western District of New York is a part of the 2nd Circuit Appeals Court.  As usual, New York’s Attorney General Letitia James appealed the decision to the 2nd Circuit because she uses bottomless taxpayers’ pockets to defend the indefensible though multiple layers of appeals.

So, the lawsuit sits waiting to be heard in front of the 2nd Circuit

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed its answering brief with the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  The brief cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen: New York’s ban “…cannot be reconciled with the historic principles underlying the Second Amendment.”

And yes, we are talking about the same Western District and 2nd Circuit that were featured in the first section of this e mail.

_________________________________________________

In 2021 the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter labeling parents as ‘domestic terrorists’ subject to the Patriot Act if they speak up about their kids’ education. Attorney General Merrick Garland responded by directing the FBI to get involved?

Local school board issues became a federal case?  Speaking out at a school board meeting made one a domestic terrorist?

Was this just an oddity or a trend in the late and unlamented Biden administration?  Judge by the below.

An anti-terrorism briefing was held at Fort Liberty (Formerly Fort Bragg) where they listed several anti-abortion (Pro-Life) organizations as “terrorist groups.” The organizations labeled as terror groups include National Right to Life and Operation Rescue. These organizations were listed as participating in terrorist activities included opposing Row v Wade, demonstrating and protesting, “Truth Displays,” and picketing. (Forget those pesky 1st Amendment protected rights.)

Whatever position you have on abortion, labelling anti-abortion groups as terrorist groups was government ‘lawfare’ against organizations of which it disapproves.  So, labelling parents speaking out at school board meetings as terrorists was not an aberration in the Biden White House.

If they could have gotten away with this, do you doubt that 2nd Amendment defense organizations would have been next to be labelled terrorists.     

A Few Things

The Arkansas state Senate passed Act 229, (also known as House Bill 1117), which would require public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools to annually provide students with age appropriate instruction on firearm safety.  The bill would have to also pass the state House of Representatives and be signed by the Governor to become law.

Under the bill, the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission would work with the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education to create and approve age-appropriate firearm safety courses. 

Although just an option being discussed at this time, the bill does state that if an option of live-fire training is approved, it would require parent’s consent.

As part of the rationale, Representative Scott Richardson said: “All of our children play together and invade whatever home happens to be the play of the day. And in that process, they may go into a neighbor's home and discover that unsecured firearm, and how would they react."

Can you imagine such a bill in New York State?  The liberals running the state Education Department would be peeing their pants!

_______________________________________________________________

HB 2187, passed the West Virginia House Education Committee.  It is next scheduled for the House Judiciary Committee.

HB 2187 authorizes teachers, administrators, or support personnel in elementary or secondary schools to carry concealed firearms and be designated as a school protection officer (SPO).

Yep. Definitely diapers for the NYS Education Department.

__________________________________________________________

In a case involving Pennsylvania’s law banning 18-to-20-year-olds from carrying firearms during a state of emergency, a three-judge panel of the federal Third Circuit had held the ban unconstitutional.  It based its finding on that 18-to-20-years-olds are part of “the people” whom the Second Amendment protects.

The state then petitioned for rehearing en banc where it would have then been reconsidered by all the judges of the Third Circuit, rather than a three-judge panel.

The court denied the petition.  The state remains barred from enforcing the ban and the 3 judge panel decision remains binding precedent in the Third Circuit.

______________________________________________________________

The Federal Third Circuit also denied a petition for a rehearing en banc in Lara v. Paris.

The court determined that the original understanding of the Second Amendment goes from when it was ratified in 1791 and that date controls any Second Amendment analysis.

In order to sneak in and undermine the Bruen guidelines, it has been a common strategy of the anti-gun left to say the understanding of the 2nd Amendment starts with the approval of the 14th Amendment, in 1868.  This would have opened the door for the left to try to use racist, post-Civil War, southern state laws aimed at prohibiting gun ownership of blacks as an historical rationale for current gun control.

That’s right, the anti-gun left tries to use racist laws to justify their gun control positions.

_________________________________________________________________

NICS checks dropped in February but were still over 1 million for the 67th consecutive month.

PLCAA Lawsuit

Last week, SCOPE wrote about a movie about a law suit against gun manufacturers.  That

E mail’s purpose was to point out the propaganda value of movies to the anti-gun left.  Now, there is news about an actual law suit against gun manufacturers.

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) is a federal law that shields gun makers from frivolous lawsuits when their products are used criminally.  Under PLCAA, if the manufacturer obeyed the laws as to selling the guns and did not falsely advertise, they generally can’t be held liable if the product is used illegally.  However, PLCAA does have exceptions. 

Mexico (the country) filed a lawsuit against major gun manufacturers arguing that gun manufacturers are violating federal law by “aiding and abetting” straw purchasers and criminal gun dealers. The Mexican government claims that these companies “knowingly” sell firearms that end up in cartel hands through straw purchases because American gun makers sell to retailers near the border and some criminals buy those guns illegally and smuggle them to Mexican drug cartels.

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently heard oral arguments in Mexico v. Smith & Wesson. A SCOTUS decision will open - or close - the door on future lawsuits against the firearms industry

SOTUS seemed dubious. Even Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Biden-appointed, died-in-the-wool liberal, who never lets the law stand in the way of her opinion seemed skeptical.

As with many 2nd Amendment cases, there is more here than just winning.  We have to ‘beat the point spread.’   Remember the “Heller” decision which validated gun rights in Washington D.C. but did not apply to the states?  It took the follow up McDonald decision to apply that decision to the states.  Mexico’s lawsuit is in federal court.  A narrow SCOTUS’ ruling might reject Mexico’s federal case but leave the door open for other lawsuits through state courts, which would not ‘beat the point spread.”.

On the other hand, a broad ruling might attempt to stop these lawsuits through the states.  (Emphasis on ‘attempt to stop’ since states like New York have judges that do not let SCOTUS’ decisions stop them from allowing obviously losing law suits in order to tie gun manufacturers up in court and cost the gun manufacturers millions to defend themselves.) 

One thing to remember is that judges often sit on cases of which they do NOT have a sophisticated understanding.  For instance, Justice Kagan made a comment about easily scraped off serial numbers and Justice Sotomayer Sotomayer made comments about manufacturers making easily erasable serial numbers.  They or their law clerks will, hopefully, learn that firearm manufacturers permanent mark serial numbers on firearm’s frames or receivers according to precise ATF regulations, in a way that serial numbers cannot be “easily erased.”  It’s a crime to make a firearm that is not marked (serialized) according to ATF’s regulation and it is a serious crime to obliterate a serial number. Even if erased, there are methods to raise or reveal an obliterated serial

In a moment of sanity, Justice Alito asked if U.S. states could, in return, sue the Mexican government for the flood of fentanyl pouring into American cities?  A great example of unintended consequences.

In any case, no matter what the decision, the anti-gun left will soon be seeking anything they can use to try and subvert the 2nd Amendment.  We can only hope for a broad decision which will make the left’s work a little harder.

Bankruptcy and Bureaucracy

A new legislative session has begun in Albany and the leftist gun grabbers have wasted no time in introducing bills aimed at neutering the 2nd Amendment.  Since there is no chance the 2nd Amendment will be repealed, one of the left’s many strategies is to make getting and keeping a firearm so bureaucratic and expensive that ordinary citizens will give up out of frustration or the lack of money.

The 2nd Amendment is the only constitutionally protected right where one has to get a license and pay a fee in order to exercise that right.

Below are four bills that have recently been introduced which are aimed at burying gun owners in bureaucracy and bankruptcy.  Those starting with ‘A’ are Assembly bills and those starting with ‘S’ are Senate bills.  Where two bill numbers are given, the same bill has been introduced in both the NY Senate and Assembly.

S658 and A4085

No person shall possess a firearm unless such person holds a firearms safety certificate issued pursuant to this section.  To get a firearms safety certificate, one must take: 5 hours of classroom instruction and a test; 2 hours of live fire instruction and a test; demonstrate safe handling on a test.

A fee may be charged for administrative purposes.

Valid for a period of two years, and may be renewed upon completion (again) of all the requirements of this section.

A360

Requires a person to apply for a hunting license prior to the purchase of a shotgun or rifle.

Establishes additional requirements for all firearms, shotguns and rifles including taking a five hours gun safety course and exam, passing a shooting range test with 90% accuracy, providing notarized proof of a passed drug test and mental health evaluation, providing proof of purchase of firearm and ammunition safe storage depositories and passing a criminal background check.

S5813

Commencing July 1st, 2026, an excise tax is imposed upon licensed dealers in firearms, firearms manufacturers, and sellers of ammunition, at the rate of eleven percent of the gross receipts from the retail sale in this state of any firearm, major component of a firearm, or ammunition.

A3376

Requires liability insurance (unnamed amount) for owners of firearms, rifles and shotguns.

SAFE Act Revisited

The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 is commonly known as the SAFE Act.  It has been twelve years since it became law.  (Did you miss the anniversary on January 15th?)  Perhaps you have forgotten about its provisions which, at that time, caused tremendous controversy – and in many cases, still do.

The SAFE Act 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. (It was signed into law on the 2nd day of the new legislative session.)  The "message of necessity" procedure was intended for emergencies.

The New York State Senate approved the act on a 43–18 vote on January 14, 2013.  The following day, 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.

Some of its provisions are:

(1)The Act broadened the legal definition of assault weapon to include those semi-automatic rifles, semi-automatic handguns, and semi-automatic shotguns which have one or more features listed in the footnote at the end of this article**. 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. 

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.  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.

(2) Beginning on April 15, 2013, only magazines with a capacity of seven rounds could legally be sold in New York

The Act allowed the continued possession of ten-round magazines purchased before that date, but made it illegal to load more than seven rounds of ammunition into a ten-round magazine. 

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, allowing New York gun owners to "legally load 10 rounds in a 10-round magazine." 

New York had a pre-existing ten-round magazine limit which remained in effect. 

(3) The Act required ammunition dealers to conduct background for direct or internet ammunition purchases.  Online buyers are required to purchase ammunition through a licensed dealer in the state and obtain the ammunition in person.  The fly-in-the-ointment was that no system existed to do this in 2013.  This provision was enacted in 2024.

(3) New York’s Mental Hygiene Law was amended as of March 16, 2013, to add a new reporting requirement for mental health professionals (physicians, psychologists, registered nurses and licensed clinical social workers). 

Mental health professionals 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 (an MHL 9.46 report) are sent to county officials, and if they agree with the assessments, the officials then input the names into the state database where it is retained for five years.

If the person in the database has a gun permit, the license is revoked and gun(s) are seized. The people in the database are barred from obtaining a permit until their names are purged."

Under the health privacy law, HIPAA, because these informational disclosures are required by law, they can be made without the patient's consent.  So, HIPAA protects you from private citizens but not the government.

(4) Owners must report lost or stolen guns and ammunition to authorities.  It is a misdemeanor to fail to report such a loss or theft within 24 hours.

(5) All sellers or other transferors of firearms and ammunition must conduct a NICS check (National Instant Criminal Background Check) 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 an 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.

(6) Gun owners living 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" must "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 was made a misdemeanor.

(7) Holders of handgun permits must re-certify every five years.  In 2022, this was changed to every three years for Concealed Carry (unrestricted) Permits.  

(8) Holders of handgun permit may "request that their application information be made exempt from disclosure under state Freedom of Information Law."

(9) 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."

(10) The SAFE Act contains a severability provision that allows other measures to remain in place in case the broad prohibitions against weapons are invalidated by the courts.

** A pistol is considered an assault weapon if it is semi-automatic, has a detachable magazine, and at least one of:

• a folding or telescoping stock;

• a thumbhole stock;

• a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;

• the capacity to accept an ammunition magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip;

• a threaded barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;

• a shroud that is attached to, or partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned;

• a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the pistol is unloaded, or

• a semiautomatic version of an automatic rifle, shotgun or firearm.

• a folding or telescoping stock;

• a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon;

• a thumbhole stock;

• a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;

• a bayonet mount;

• a flash suppressor;

• a muzzle brake;

• a muzzle compensator;

• a threaded barrel designed to accommodate a flash suppressor, muzzle brake, or muzzle compensator; and 

• a grenade launcher.

• a folding or telescoping stock;

• a thumbhole stock;

• a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;

• a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds; or

• an ability to accept a detachable magazine.

A rifle is considered an “assault weapon” if it is semi-automatic, has a detachable magazine, and at least one of:

A shotgun is considered an “assault weapon” if it has at least one of:

• a folding or telescoping stock;

• a thumbhole stock;

• a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand;

• a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds; or

• an ability to accept a detachable magazine.