The first day under a New York law requiring a background check for ammunition purchases passed quietly for ammunition sellers who spoke to The Epoch Times. But one man said the new system could be a security nightmare.
“In my eyes, it’s an overreach. What’s it going to do to help society as a whole?” Mike Onysko, manager of McLain’s Sporting Goods in Endicott, New York, told The Epoch Times.
Under N.Y. Exec. Law 228 passed last year, the New York State Police (NYSP) will handle all background checks for the purchase of firearms and ammunition. The law charges $9 for each firearm transaction and $2.50 for each ammunition purchase to finance the system.
Don Baker, owner of Pigeon Hill Firearms in Chenango Forks, New York, said the fees are the real objective. He rankles at charging his customers to address problems outside his community.
“All the nonsense happens down in New York City,” Mr. Baker told The Epoch Times. “It’s really not about making anyone safer. It’s really about making money.”
In an email to The Epoch Times, the NYSP wrote that the system would be online at nysnics.ny.gov.
“Background checks can be submitted through the online application 24 hours a day, seven days per week (excluding maintenance outages),” the email reads.
Technical assistance is available at 1-877-697-6427. The email reads that an automated telephone system for submitting background checks should be up by October.
Mr. Onysko said there has been a run on ammunition since Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the change last July.
“There’s been a huge drive to get ahead of the law,” he said.
Mr. Baker said he saw an increase in business, but he believes that will be temporary. He said many people are already buying ammunition out of state.
Cyber Security Concerns
Tony Zolnoski has owned Townline Armory in Angola, New York, for 15 years. He didn’t sell any ammunition on the first day of the law’s implementation. He doesn’t expect to sell very much in the future.“Many people are already going to Pennsylvania, so they don’t have to put up with that,” he told The Epoch Times.
He said that he will better understand how the law will affect him when hunting season opens in a few weeks. None of the businessmen expect an uptick.
Federal law already requires background checks for gun purchases. However, the law restricts using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to a “proposed firearm transfer as required by the Brady Act.”
The NYSP expressed confidence that the system would be fully operational on Sept. 13. Mr. Onysko said his experience appeared to justify that confidence. He ran a check on himself that morning as a test and sold a box of cartridges later that day.
He said the extra steps added 8 to 12 minutes to the process. But, it also raised serious concerns.
He said the new system saves all the customer’s sensitive information, such as their Social Security number, telephone number, address, and other data, in the store’s dashboard on the NYSP website. He said that the results could be disastrous if a disgruntled employee or identify thief accessed a store employee’s login information.
“[The system] wants to know everything. They would have all the information they need to get a credit card. It’s a huge invasion of privacy,” Mr. Onysko said.
He said the system also requires an email address, which could be a problem for some customers.
Technology Might Be an Issue
Mr. Baker said technology was an issue for him as well. He said he has not needed a computer to run his small business and was shocked by the NYSP response when he asked how he was supposed to run a background check without one.“They assume that everyone has a computer and is computer literate,” Mr. Baker said. “They told me to use the computer at the library.”
All three business owners said customers have also expressed concerns that their data will be used to expand a state database of gun owners.
“That’s been one of the primary concerns. The feds are not supposed to keep a database. Now the state is going to know who’s buying what ammo,” Mr. Onysko said.
The NYSP said that won’t happen.
“Upon receiving a request from a licensed dealer, the division shall conduct a background check by contacting the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and consulting the state’s database of firearms licensees and records to see if the buyer is someone who is barred from receiving possessing, owning, or purchasing a firearm or ammunition under state or federal law,” the email reads.
No Trust in System
Mr. Zolnoski isn’t convinced the system is safe.“I don’t have much faith in it, to be honest with you,” he said.
Background checks for ammunition were first proposed in 2013 under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013. That law required that all ammunition sales be handled like gun sales.
At that time, the NYSP had no system for such background checks. Republicans negotiated a memorandum of understanding that no state money would be spent until both parties had agreed to a cost plan and a plan for implementing the system.
Mr. Cuomo made it clear that the memorandum carried no weight with him. Ms. Hochul said she felt the same.
In a July 1, 2023 speech, she said the memorandum was no longer a factor.
“So, we are literally tearing it up, and New York will now require and conduct background checks for all ammunition purchases. And we'll also be [setting] up an ammunition database so that law enforcement can identify and prosecute criminals,” she said.
Ms. Hochul stressed that the law is to keep ammunition away from criminals. In her July 1 speech, Ms. Hochul said the law would only affect law breakers.
“We know this has nothing to do with lawful gun owners, nothing to do with them at all. These are people who have been convicted of felonies or other categories of people that should be prohibited from firearms and ammunition,” she said.
Mr. Onysko and Mr. Zolnoski don’t believe her. They believe this expansion of the law is about only one thing.
“I think it’s just another money grab,” Mr. Zolnoski said.
Mr. Baker agreed.
“I don’t see how it’s going to help the state one iota,” he said.
