FFL’s and Proposed Laws  by Tom Reynolds

The attack on the 2^nd Amendment happens in many ways.  Currently, there are a number of laws proposed at both the federal and state level which would affect Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL’s).  You may want to pass along this information to your local gun dealer as they might not be aware of all the proposed laws that would affect them.

At the Federal Level

HR1207 is being reviewed in the House Judiciary Committee.  It would require:

•        All ammunition sales must be in-person and photo ID required’.  (Wait a minute, isn’t requiring a photo ID a form of racism?  Also, good bye to on line sales.) 
•        Ammunition dealers must be licensed. (Forget selling some extra ammo or trading one caliber for another to a friend.)
•        The FFL must submit a federal and state report on same day for any purchase of 1,000 rounds within 5 days.  (And criminals will not be able to figure out that buying ammo from multiple sources is a way to beat this?)

HR0125 is Sheila Jackson Lee’s latest attack on firearms.  It is in the House’s subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. It would require:

•        A 7-day waiting period before a semiautomatic firearm, a silencer, armor piercing ammunition, or a large capacity ammunition magazine may be transferred.  (“Luckily” for those of us in NY State, silencers and large capacity magazine sales are already illegal so those parts will not affect us.)

HR0647 is in the House’s subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.  It would prohibit:

•        A Federal firearms licensee from transferring a long gun to a person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in (or if the person is a corporation or other business entity, does not maintain a place of business in) the State in which the licensee’s place of business is located.

HR1446 has passed the House and been referred to the Senate.  It requires:

•        The default date on NICS Check is extended to 10 days. 
•        If no answer received within 10 days, the purchaser may petition for review.  (No automatic review after 10 days.  More bureaucratic paperwork to buy a firearm.)
•        If no answer to the petition is received within the second 10 day period (20 days overall) the purchase may proceed.

(See HR1787 is the opposite of this bill and it would prevent delays in transfers.)

HR1691 is in the House Subcommittee on Economic development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. It identifies:

•        Licensed firearm manufacturers and licensed firearm dealers as essential businesses during certain national emergencies, and for other purposes.

HR1787 is in the House Judiciary Committee.  No text is available but it is defined as a bill to:

•        Prevent unnecessary delay in firearms transfers from licensed firearms dealers to unlicensed persons.  (As opposed to HR1446 which would delay transfers.)

S0591 is in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  There is no text available but it is defined as:

•        A bill to prohibit firearms dealers from selling a firearm prior to the completion of a background check.  (See HR1446 and HR1787 for competing bills.)

Not to be outdone, New York State is also pushing new laws.

A2176 is in the Assembly Codes Committee.  It would:

•        Require gunsmiths and firearms dealers to implement a plan for securing firearms, rifles and shotguns, including those transported in interstate commerce.
•        The following minimum requirements for such security plan:

    -   display cases must be locked at all times;
    -   firearms, rifles and shotguns must be secured in a locked fireproof safe or vault in the licensed premises or in a similar secured and locked area;
    -   and ammunition must be stored and secured separately from the firearms, rifles and shotguns, and out of reach of the customers.

A0449 and S1235 are in their respective Codes Committees.  They would:

•        Establish a ten-day waiting period from contact of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) before a firearm, shotgun or rifle may be delivered to a person.  (Federal HR1446 and HR1787 and S0591 complicate all this.)

A0930 and S2844 is in the Assembly’s Government Operations Committee and in the Senate’s Finance Committee.  These bills would:

•        Make the NY State Police the FFL’s point of contact for NICS checks.

A2175 and S0065 are in their respective Codes Committees.  These would:

•        Restrict the sale of ammo only to persons that own that caliber weapon.

S1048 is in the Consumer protection Committee.  It would:

•        Under certain circumstances, a manufacturer, distributor or seller of a firearm may be designated a public nuisance and subject to civil and criminal action.

S1236 is in the Senate Codes Committee.  It would make it:

•        A misdemeanor to buy - or sell to the same person - more than one firearm every 30 days