ALBANY, NY –-(Ammoland.com)- A new bill would introduce a mandatory ten-day waiting period for firearms purchases in New York State.
Assembly Bill A449 would establish a ten-day “cooling off” period before a federally licensed dealer could transfer a firearm after a transferee completes a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) 4473 Form and passes a background check through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The new law would apply to handguns, shotguns, and rifles alike. This requirement also applies to firearms that an owner takes to a gunsmith for repairs.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale). Ms. Paulin is a staunch anti-gun member of the New York Assembly and has introduced other anti-gun bills in the past, such as New York’s Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. She was joined by co-sponsors Jeffrey Dinowitz, Sandy Galef, Inez E. Dickens, Thomas Abinanti, and several other Assemblymembers.
According to the proposed new law, the gun dealer must keep a written record of everyone they receive a firearm from and transfer a gun to in a logbook. The record must include the time, date, name, occupation, and the residence of the person transferring or receiving the firearm. This requirement far exceeds what is required by the ATF’s 4473 Form or federal law. Gun rights advocates wonder why New York wants to know the occupation of gun owners.
The dealer or gunsmith must also record the make, model, caliber, and serial number of the firearm in accordance with federal record-keeping laws. Per the proposed law, the dealer must submit an electronic copy of the records to the state police and keep another on hand. The new law causes a lot of extra work for the gun dealers, and some believe that the purpose of the law is to discourage people from starting gun shops in the notoriously anti-gun state.
Anti-gun groups have touted waiting periods as a lifesaving measure, but waiting periods have cost people their lives. One state over, in New Jersey, Carol Bowne applied for a gun permit to purchase a firearm. She recently took out a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend and convicted felon Michael Eitel. She was afraid that the man wanted to do her harm.
Knowing that a restraining order is just a piece of paper that Eitel would most likely ignore, Browne sought a gun to protect herself from her obsessed ex-lover. New Jersey has a 30-day waiting period for a permit to buy a gun. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t take Eitel 30-days to attack Browne. The crazed man stabbed Browne to death before the state granted her the ability to buy a gun legally.
Browne wasn’t the first person to die because of a waiting period. Another New Jersey resident, Letizia “Lisa” Zindell, was strangled by her boyfriend the night he got out of jail for violating a restraining order demanding he leaves Zindell alone. The woman was also waiting on a permit to buy a firearm.
The New York bill is currently in committee.
This session is the third time the bill has been introduced in the Assembly. It was introduced in the 2017-2018 (A11287) and 2019-2020 (A890) Sessions—both times, the bill stalled in committee.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Waiting period laws are the most pro-domestic violence laws out there. As a retired cop I saw a phenomenon of women finally realizing that “he’s going to kill me,” and asking for help getting out of their home. All a ten day waiting period accomplishes is giving the violent partner a ten day safe period in which to stalk and attack her for leaving him.
THEY should try to pass a law requiring criminals at least 10 days notice of planned crimes
Or if 10 days isn’t enough time for a ” cooling off” maybe 3650 days will do it..
Maybe a law against rape, robbery, theft, bad checks and forgery will satisfy THEM.
THEIR GOAL IS TYRANNY BY A THOUSAND CUTS.
Incorrect, NJ has a 30 day waiting period between buying one handgun and the next handgun. But yes, Carol Bowne was killed waiting for something that honestly took way too long for her to legally acquire – some towns were more than 6 months wait during 2020 with COVID fueled purchases overloading the system.
In the case of the murdered Carol Bowne, she waited on a permit which wasn’t coming anyway. She didn’t meet the onerous requirement for a pistol permit. As far as the authorities are concerned, an order of protection by a judge is sufficient to defend against a belligerent boyfriend.
Did those authorities have badges?
BACK THE BLUE!
They are brave! (not quite as brave as grocery store clerks)
Why anyone would live in New York is the big question ? I prefer a free state where I can purchase a firearm and walk out the door 15 minutes later with my new purchase. You could not give me the whole state of New York for free . New York is a blue turd that needs flushed into the Atlantic ocean .
There are in the neighborhood of ten thousand restrictive gun laws on the books of the United States all fifty of them. Yet we have nearly uncontrollable gun crimes here in the United States even today. Who wonders why that is? The public is beginning to understand restrictive gun laws do nothing to reduce crime and that is a provable fact for they never have. As a matter of fact the opposite may be true. They enhance the ability of criminals to commit crimes by disarming law abiding citizens. If that were not fact why would certain areas with the most restrictive gun… Read more »
From the article you posted about Chicago: “It allows people to come to the victim’s aid, forces the offender to flee, and helps the police pinpoint the location of the crime,” Smith claimed. I wonder if anyone has told her it doesn’t do any of those things. Violent criminals are going to commit violent crimes. A certain percentage of enforcers will arrest people who take steps to protect themselves from violent criminals. They will go out for beers afterward and laugh about the person whose life they ruined because the person thought the Constitution protected their rights and enforcers were… Read more »
That about sums it up.
and the abuse of words cheapens them, which is the intent
Thanks for the laugh! I almost spit my coffee out.
It’s no wonder non-government employees have suffered so much over the last 50-some years. People who consider themselves patriots do nothing to influence politics, support laws that allow the tools of tyrants to get away with abusing the rights of non-government employees with little personal risk, and then pound they chests and expect thank yous.
“Awaiting for approval.” Reads like they offshored the moderation to India.
Don’t know.
Their site, their rules.
I appreciate the opportunity for frank conversation.
It’s frustrating sometimes. I have no idea how the program works.