New York State Police: Ammunition Background Check System Will Be Online Sept. 13

A customer shops for ammunition at Lawful Defense in Gainesville, Fla., on April 19, 2023. Nanette Holt/The Epoch Times

New York State Police say a system to perform background checks for ammunition purchases will be in place by Sept. 13, 2023.

“The process is being developed and will be finalized and posted prior to going live on (Sept. 13, 2023),” an Aug. 25 email from the New York State Police (NYSP) Public Information Office reads.

The NYSP will be the point of contact for background checks for all firearm purchases and will handle background checks for ammunition purchases beginning Sept. 13, 2023, under NY Exec. Law 228 passed in 2022.

This means that in New York, only Federal Firearms Licensed (FFL) dealers will be able to sell ammunition, and a background check will be required with each purchase.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office did not return calls and emails from The Epoch Times seeking comment.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announces that state police continue to increase gun seizures statewide on Aug. 4, 2022. Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

According to the NYSP email, state police will charge a fee for each background check. Firearm purchase background checks will cost $9, and ammunition background checks will cost $2.50. The payments will be transferred to the state comptroller, who will put them in a fund to cover the expenses of the background check system.

The fees will be assessed per purchase with no limit on the amount or type of ammunition, the email reads.

Federal law 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.” FFL dealers are prohibited from using the NICS for anything else. According to the NYSP, this will not be an issue.

“Background checks are required by New York state law,” the email reads.

Under NY Exec. Law 228, information gathered will be placed in a statewide firearms license database. The database could include information from “the Division of Criminal Justice Services, the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Office of Mental Health, and other local entities.”

State Databases Planned

The information will be used for certification and recertification of firearm permits. The data will not be considered public records under the law. The law also allows the NYSP to develop other databases “as needed.”

Background checks for ammunition sales were first proposed in 2013 under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act of 2013. That law, among other things, required that all ammunition sales be handled like gun sales.

At that time, New York State Police said they had no system for such background checks.

Republicans in the New York legislature were able to negotiate 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, which did not exist.

Memorandum Meant Nothing

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA), said Mr. Cuomo clarified that the memorandum meant nothing to him.

“He said they could tear it up at any time,” Mr. King said.

According to a transcript of a July 1, 2023, speech on an extraordinary session of the legislature, Ms. Hochcul said that is precisely what she did.

“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 law enforcement can identify and prosecute criminals,” she said.

Despite complaints of added costs and a more significant regulatory burden on law-abiding gun owners, Ms. Hochul said in her speech that the law would only affect criminals.

“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.

New Yorkers will have to undergo a background check to purchase ammunition after Sept. 13, 2023. StockyPics/Flickr, Public Domain

Mr. King said the new law may force FFL holders in his group to be forced out of business. Many gun owners practice several times a month. So, the businesses would be forced to do background checks each time they bought ammunition.

According to Mr. King, the administrative costs and record-keeping requirements could mark the end for some small businesses.

The NYSRPA sued New York in 2018 over the requirement that concealed weapons permit applicants show “proper cause” when applying for a concealed firearm permit. According to Mr. King, the law was to disarm the populace while making exceptions for the wealthy and politically connected.

That case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court decided in 2022 that the proper cause requirement was unconstitutional.

Almost immediately, Ms. Hochul called the legislature into session to pass the Concealed Carry Improvement Act. The act removed mention of “proper cause” but expanded other requirements, including the government’s list of “sensitive places” where it sought to prohibit the carrying of firearms.