The New York Secure Ammunition & Firearms Enforcement Act commonly known as the NY SAFE ACT is a gun control law in the city of New York State Legislature & was signed by the Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo on 15th January 2013. This legislation as written in reaction to the shooting, done at the Sandy Hook Elementary School of Connecticut. It states that If in case the broad prohibitions against any of the weapons are invalidated by the courts, then the NYC safe act contains a provision of severability, regulations related to a number of firearms. Few of the provisions included in the SAFE Act are as below:
- High capacity magazines possession was banned regardless of when they were made or sold. The maximum capacity for all magazines was fixed as 10 rounds.
- Background checks are required to be done by a person who deals ammunition, similarly to the gun buyers. All sales are to be reported by the dealer, including amounts, to the state. All sales are to be reported by the dealer, including amounts, to the state.
- Assault weapons registry creation was required. That New Yorkers who already own such weapons would be required to register their guns with the state. Registry was started on 15th April 2013 & was to be completed before 15th April 2014.
- Reports of stolen guns were required to be given within 24 hours. Failure of doing this will consider you have done a criminal act.
- Penalties increased for shooting first responders to life in prison without parole
- Pistol permit holders needed to renew their permit at least in every 5 years.
- It was allowed to the higher officials to enforce law or seoze anyone' firearms without any order from court or warrant, if an individual is suspected to commit some crime, suicide or if the individual is found to be mentally unstable.
- All the guns are required to be stored safely from the family member, who have been convicted for any crime or domestic violence.
- IMPACT
- On 2014 February, It was announced that Remington’s arms that also searched for Tennessee locations will expand its operations in a planned way at the Alabama region instead of expanding at its llion located in the upstate New York. Remington's decision on New York's SAFE Act restrictions on assault weapon was blamed by the local union officials.
- American Tactical Imports started moving their headquarters from Rochester to Summerville, the South Carolina.
The safe act recently got amended, the amendments included some changes to the law as follows:-
The requirement that magazines containing only 7 or fewer rounds can be purchase got suspended. Changing the limit up to 10 rounds was done. Magazines may only contain maximum 7 rounds regardless of the capacity that the magazine has unless a person is not incorporated firing range or competition, in which case the person was permitted to fully load their magazine. Prohibition on the assault weapons, possession of magazines with high capacity & the magazines containing more than 7 rounds of magazine along with this the law prohibiting weapons on the school grounds.
Ensuring that local safe storage laws are not pre-empted by the SAFE Act.
Much opposition was there against this law. It was criticised for prohibiting the civil liberties. In addition to the opposition from elect’s officials and the organizations, a lot of public protests also took place in the state capital Albany, the New York. Law was criticised as rushed through by the state legislature. After some time the SAFE Act was signed into law, a further petition to repeal & replace the restrictive portions of the law was brought. A proclamation that opposing the safe act was issued by the country minority legislature, even in the state of Albany. People even called for its repeal or amendment.
THEORY :- Gun politics is a very controversial issue in American politics. Some people characterize the possession of firearms by concerns about the right to bear arms found in the 2nd amendment to the US constitution, & the responsibility of government to prevent crimes. Gun rights supporter promote firearms for many reasons like hunting & self-defence.
But many people are there who support the fact that if people are limited to possessing firearms it will help create a safer society. Many such controversies led to the creation of NY Safe Act. Also, the governor Cuomo wanted to earn people's good will by proving that he cares for the society & thus he want people not to keep many firearms. Although things went the opposite way, he thought, it would be.
Many of the legal challenges were faced by this law as the New York Supreme Court issues an order saying that the state must show that the law does not violate the constitution. If the state is unable to do, then the court will issue an injunction against its implementation. Also, the United States Department of the Veterans Affairs announced that it would not follow the provision of the NY SAFE Act requiring mental health professionals to report patients who seem that federal laws protecting the privacy of veterans take precedence over state laws. Further, the Chief U.S. District judge of the federal court of buffalo, upheld most of the NY Safe Act, concluding that its provisions further the state's important interest in public safety, it was not said to totally disarm the citizen of New York & their right to self-defence was given importance & was said to be meaningful. The New York's rifle & pistol association came up to signing an appeal in an attempt so that the vagueness was removed from the safe act.
REFERENCES
[1]"NY Gov. Cuomo Signs SAFE Act Exemption For Retired Cops | New York Daily News". Nydailynews.com
[2] ^ "Stand Up For The Second Amendment By Standing With New York State Senator Kathleen Marchione | New York State Senate
