Perhaps that was the point.
The new state law that was the brainchild of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) went into effect last week. It mandated that ammunition sellers conduct background checks through the New York State Police on all purchasers. These sellers are already licensed by the state.
There must be a database maintained for each purchaser containing their personal data and a register of exactly what they bought. Including how many rounds were purchased.
What exact information does the state now require for this extra layer of burden placed on exercising a constitutional right? First, the usual name, address and contact info. Then the social security number must be provided along with the drivers license number, place of birth and occupation.
As for the ammunition, the retailer must record the manufacturer, caliber, grain, number of rounds, and any serial numbers or lot numbers associated with the ammo.
State Police are mandated to conduct “periodic” in-person inspections of all gun dealers and ammunition retailers.
A prospective buyer who was rejected has 30 days to appeal, and State Police have 30 days to respond and give reasons for their decision. Any further appeals must be filed with the state attorney general.
The new regulations come with extra charges as well. A purchaser of a weapon in New York now must pay an additional $9.00 to cover the cost of the new state background check. Ammunition sales now have an extra $2.50 attached for the same purpose.
Many retailers believe purchasers will simply choose to shop out of state for their supplies. Mary Vann, owner of Vann’s Gun Shop and Reloads, said she hopes “the whole system dies if I am going to be brutally honest.”
She said it took eight hours for her and a computer tech to work with the state’s website and get the system functional.
Vann said another danger is the extinction of the family-owned gun shop. “There [are] less and less of them all the time because it is a lot of work…This, I think, would just kill anybody’s notion of having a family-owned gun shop.”
Another New York retailer, Mike Mayhood of Mayhood’s Sporting Goods in Norwich, warned that the cumbersome new system will put some retailers out of business. He said the time involved with following the state edicts is making his business lose money and that prices will have to increase to make up for the lost time.
Manhood added, “we know it’s all intentional.”
It takes an employee up to 15 minutes simply to enter all the information required by the state into the computer system. And then there’s the response time.
One unlucky customer had to wait 22 hours before their ammunition purchase was approved by New York officials.
Mayhood recalled that two customers canceled their orders because of the delay and wanted their information retrieved from the state database. He called the State Police and found that was impossible.
He further noted that the state’s obvious goal is to create a “gun registry.” Many now believe that New York is readying to impose limits on how many rounds of ammunition may be purchased.
New York has quite a checkered history of repeated attempts to deny Second Amendment rights to law-abiding citizens. The state notoriously throws up every roadblock imaginable between the people and lawful gun ownership.
It will not be surprising to see this latest mess end up in court.
