S00930 and A01566 Won’t Work  by John Elwood

SCOPE’s purpose is to inform and educate its membership and the general public on firearms issues - and especially those issues which threaten our constitutional rights.  NY Senate bill S00930 and companion bill in the Assembly A01566 are threats of which you need to be aware.

In the past, there have been many attempts by the left to ban ammunition. Ammunition restriction attempts are not new in the United States.  A few examples:

In the Gun Control Act of 1968, the law required purchaser of handgun ammunition and rifle-caliber ammunition that could be used in a handgun to sign ledgers documenting their purchases. 

In the eighties, gun control advocates pushed legislation that would ban traditional ammunition manufactured with bullets made of lead. 

A decade later, gun control supporters sought a 1,000 percent tax on 9mm, .25 and .32 caliber ammunition, a 50 percent tax on all handgun ammunition, a ban on mail-order ammunition sales, a requirement for a background check to purchase ammunition, and a limit on the amount of ammunition a person could own without an “arsenal license.” 

In 2015, two years after failing to get Congress to ban the AR-15, and other general-purpose rifles, the Obama Administration attempted to bypass Congress to ban the second most common ammunition used in the rifle. 

Currently, six states have laws regulating ammunition sales and require background checks:  New York, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.  All Democratic led states! 

As part of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), New York State began ammunition background checks on September 13, 2023.  Initial reports indicate that due to ammunition background checks, most ammunition purchases are delayed, inconveniencing customers.  Infringement of the Second Amendment does not stop there! 

The New York Senate bill (S00930) has been introduced.  If passed, it will restrict the sale of ammunition to only individuals authorized to possess such a weapon, and it creates the no-gun database under the division of criminal justice service. 

S00930 was introduced and referred to the Senate codes committee on January 9, 2023, and may be acted upon in the 2024 legislative year.  State Senator Roxanne Persaud, a Democrat from New York City’s Senate district 19 is the bill’s lone sponsor, and is a member of the Senate codes committee.  (There is No corresponding SCOPE chapter in Senate district 19.) 

Will Senator Persaud’s influence convince the codes committee to pass the bill, and send it to the floor for a Senate vote?

What makes this bill important to fight against is that there is a corresponding bill, a SAME AS BILL also making its way through the New York State Assembly. A01566 is the companion bill to S00930 and it advocates for the same measure – restricting the sale of ammunition to only individuals authorized to possess a matching weapon, and creating a no-gun database. 

A01566 was introduced in the Assembly on January 17, 2023, and currently sits on the Assembly codes committee.  Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon from district 52 in Brooklyn is the primary sponsor for A01566, and is a member of the Assembly codes committee.  (There is no SCOPE Chapter in district 52).  This strongly partisan bill has 14 Democratic cosponsors.  Assemblyman David McDonough represents district 14 in Nassau County is the lone Republican sponsor.  (Assembly district 14 has no corresponding SCOPE chapter.) 

S00930 and A01566 declare a person is guilty of criminal sale of firearm ammunition when a person sells any firearm ammunition to a person not authorized pursuant to a law to possess a firearm capable of firing such ammunition. 

Violation of this proposed law would be a Class B Misdemeanor.  In New York State, misdemeanors are punishable by community service, fines, probation or a jail sentence up to 90 days or a combination.   Misdemeanor convictions will typically show up on routine background checks by employers or law enforcement agencies.  A misdemeanor conviction can stay on your record forever, but starting in October 2017, a person can ask a court to seal up to two criminal convictions of which either can be misdemeanors, but only one can be a felony.  

S00930 and A01566 further creates a no-gun database containing the name, date of birth and any other pertinent information that the division of criminal justice deems appropriate.  The criminal justice division will allow any person selling a firearm or firearm ammunition within the state to check the no-gun database for the buyer of such firearm or firearm ammunition.  Finally, if the bill becomes law, it goes into effect on November 1 next succeeding the date of which it becomes law. 

Why do State Senator Persaud and Assembly woman JoAnne Simon want to push S0093 and A01566?  Are they concerned about gun violence in New York City and Nassau County?  Do they support the “defund the police” movement, a Democrat policy which helped to reduce the New York City Police Department (NYPD) budget? 

Senator Persaud and Assemblywoman JoAnne Simon undoubtably think about how S00930 and A01566 will affect voting their district, but do they think about how those bills will impact real world issues? Do they realize S00930 and A01566 would preclude husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and friends from buying ammunition for their loved ones.  And if the idea is to stop criminals from obtaining ammunition, the two bills won’t work; if criminals want to get ammunition, they will get it.  Criminals do not follow the law, period!  These two bills, if enacted, punish the law abiding majority and don’t hold criminals accountable for the crimes they commit.   

An attempt was made to ask Senator Persaud and Assemblywoman Simon what their motivations were behind S00930 and A01566, but this author did not receive any answer from them. 

Questions Persaud and Simon need to answer:

Currently, the National Rifle Association – Institute of Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the lobbying arm of the NRA, does not have a position on either S00930 or A01566.   

It is incumbent on ALL SCOPE members to GET INVOLVED and call your state senators and assembly persons and tell them to OPPOSE S00930 and A01566.  Furthermore, converse with Democrat voters, and convince them to support the Second Amendment!  No longer do we have the luxury to sit on the sidelines and wait for someone else to fight laws against the Second Amendment.  Everyone MUST get INVOLVED today!  Everyone should say, “SEND ME”!