New York’s New Gun Law Goes Into Effect

Despite the rallies, protests and heavy pushback by gun-rights advocates, New York State's new gun-law provisions officially went into effect today, reported the Journal News.

The Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, passed in January by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, prohibits gun owners from loading more than seven rounds into their magazines unless they’re at a range or competition. And owners of assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic guns must register those guns with the state. 

This makes New York state the first to enact new gun-control measures since the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.

But the passing the SAFE Act didn’t come easy:

In addition to three months of heavy pushback on the new law-- primarily from conservatives, tea party members and long-time gun-owners, all of whom argued the law was passed in haste-- Cuomo encountered a setback of his own doing when he included in the new law a provision banning dealers from selling anything greater than seven-bullet magazines.

He amended the law in March to allow for only seven bullets at a time, once it was discovered that magazines weren’t sold to hold anything less than ten.

But even now, as the new law goes into effect, many wonder about the extent to which gun-rights supporters will actually comply, while others use the example of Cuomo’s blunder over magazine capacity as proof the law is out of step with reality.

“How are you really going to police if someone has seven bullets in a magazine or 10?” said Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, Ontario County, who opposes the SAFE Act. “You’re just not going to be able to police it. It’s impractical.”

When asked about enforcement of the law, Cuomo said government officials have to “ignore the extremists,” and he pointed to New York City, where currently, only five bullets are allowed in a magazine. City officials have been “enforcing that for a long time,” he said.