By William R Fox Sr, Genesee County Chair

Information also provided by Don Smith Wayne County Scope

WE THE PEOPLE have a decision to make in the coming 2 years. Should we re-certify our firearms (pistols) with the NY State Police before January 31, 2018? There will be 3 counties Albany, Schenectady and Fulton doing test runs on the recertification of the Pistol Permit Holders to work out the flaws. They will be sending you an invitation letter asking you to do so immediately. You may be asking yourself what are my options at this point, and is there an advantage to doing this early. We are not asking anyone to disobey any laws, and if you read down below, it gives you the law. Take a minute and look at what they are doing to us law abiding citizens.

There is a lawsuit going on, where a retired police officer and a Veteran had problems sleeping and went to the hospital to get checked out. A few days later he gets a phone call that they are coming to seize his firearms because the hospital turned him in. That’s what the so called Safe Act has done. This is only one instance that has taken place in New York State. There are plenty more going on with the HIPPA laws that the state is violating. The state has a data base set up with many New Yorker’s names that are in it, regardless if you own a gun or not. The information they are receiving and forwarding to local authorities is in direct violation of the HIPPA laws. New York City has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, and by the so called Safe Act in 2014, there were 3,930 arrests; 3,173 of these were in New York City alone. These arrests were mainly in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Long Island. Most of these arrests were for violations that already were illegal before SAFE, but were attributed to SAFE. For 32 million tax dollars to implement this, where is the safe part supposed to be?

So as I said in the beginning, WE THE PEOPLE have a decision to make…..what will yours be! We need to make this as tough and inconvenient on them as they are making it for us, the law abiding citizen. The information below is what you are required to adhere to.

The New State Penal law was amended by the passage of the NYSAFE Act in 2013. Part (b) was added to Section 10 as stated below:

NY PENAL LAW - Article 400.00 / 10. (b): “All licensees shall be re-certified to the division of state police...by the licensee on or before January thirty-first, two thousand eighteen...” [e.g. “re-certify” yourself as NOT being prohibited from owning a handgun].

This requires you [licensee] to re-certify by providing to the NY State Police your name, date of birth, gender, race, residential address, SS#, and firearms possessed together with an affirmation that the licensee is not prohibited from possessing firearms. Note: email address is at the OPTION of the licensee.

A “firearm” is defined as

(a) any pistol or revolver unless it is

(b) a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or

(c) a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; etc. [See *”Firearms” Definition Below*] A common shotgun or rifle used by law abiding citizens does not need to be included.

Nothing in the statute confers upon the State Police the authority to approve or disapprove re certification. It is only a local licensing officer who has the authority to issue, deny or revoke a pistol license in most jurisdictions. This would be a judge or justice of a court of record in Upstate NY having his office in the county of issuance.

You will receive a letter with an ‘invitation’ to re-certify immediately. The ‘invitation’ will be to recertify on-line. This will allow you to provide the state with your personal information in a database format.

It is NOT necessary to do either. Therefore, when you receive the “re certification” letter, this is what you may do, legally:

1. Go to the state website listed in the letter and print a hard copy of the form.

2. Mail the form via CERTIFIED MAIL thus confirming it was mailed and received.

3. Mail the form on Monday JANUARY 29, 2018 or Tuesday JANUARY 30, 2018.

NO re-certifications are LEGALLY required prior to JANUARY 31, 2018.

*NY State Penal Law and Firearms Definition:*

265.00. Definitions As used in this article and in article four hundred, the following terms shall mean and include: [Only section 3 applies and is referenced here]. 3. "Firearm" means:

(a) any pistol or revolver; or

(b) a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or

(c) a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or

(d) any weapon made from a shot- gun or rifle whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise if such weapon as altered, modified, or otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches; or (e) an assault weapon....