It came to a State Near You  by Tom Reynolds

Did you stock up on ammo before the new fees and background checks hit on Wednesday?  In some situations, that may not be enough.

As SCOPE has been reporting, Executive Law 228 took effect on September 13th. It requires the New York State Police to conduct instant criminal background checks for all firearm and ammunition purchases or transfers in New York state, at a fee of $9 for firearms and $2.50 for ammo. (Previously, NICS checks on firearm purchases were done at no cost to gun buyers and there was no background check for ammo.)

Many SCOPE chapters help finance high school shooting teams so there is more than just our personal finances and inconvenience to consider.

The Olean Times Herald reported: High school trap team coaches, registered as “ammunition keepers” with the state police for their teams, typically buy shotgun ammunition in bulk and then give it to team members during practice and competition. Last week, the coach/ammunition keepers received letters from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Acting State Police Superintendent Steven Nigrelli requiring them to register with NYSNICS and establish a method of payment to cover the cost of the background checks.

State Senator George Borrello said that requiring a NICS check each time a coach gives a team member a box of ammunition “is ridiculous and unworkable.”

Borello continued: “More than 2,500 student-athletes representing 144 high school clay target teams participate in the NYS High School Clay Target League…These teams have a perfect safety record. Not one student has been injured during practice or competition since the league started in 2001. Not one.”

The Olean Times Herald continued: All participants in clay shooting programs must complete firearm safety certification before practicing and competing. Team members, most between the ages of 13 and 17, are unable to purchase shotgun ammunition themselves. They participate on the teams with a signed permission slip from parents/guardians.

Since all ammunition sellers in New York are required to comply with the new system, this will also affect adult trap, skeet and sporting clays leagues when host clubs sell ammunition to competitors.

“Make no mistake about it, Executive Law 228 is designed to punish law-abiding gun owners,” Borrello said. “It’s another example of egregious government overreach designed to make it more difficult and expensive for law-abiding gun owners to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

As with most of the Left’s gun control efforts, the measure will do nothing to reduce crime and it will waste taxpayer money by forcing the state police to act as middlemen.  Of course, leftist posturing without a measurable result was always the goal for Hochul anyway.