Coxsackie Sportsmen's Club

These bills propose that the task of running NICS checks be done through the New York State Police via a new department to be created and funded by fees charged to FFL dealers. Of course, these fees will be passed on to the buyer.

Why would the state take this task away from the FFL dealer? Because the state wants access to the information contained in the federal form 4473, which it currently does not have. Handguns are required to be registered with the state, but long guns do not. They want to change that by creating another layer of bureaucracy to gather additional data.

Currently, when a prospective purchaser is denied a “proceed” during a NICS check, the dealer stops the transaction. The state wants to know who and why the purchaser was denied. Purchases can be denied for many reasons, many completely innocent. Privacy rights are now being threatened by this legislation. Instead of going after the people who obtain illegal firearms, they once again are trying to punish legal purchasers. In addition, it would be a precursor to creation of a complete firearm database in New York. FOR WHAT PURPOSE?

How many criminals buy guns through an FFL dealer, knowing that they are not a permitted person? Call your legislators and ask them to vote against this punitive and costly additional hurdle for lawful gun owners.