It’s been over a month since New York State began requiring background checks for ammunition purchases.
Dealers report losing business due to delays in processing information and the migration of customers to Pennsylvania and Vermont.
Those customers don’t want to wait for what used to be a mundane purchase and don’t want to provide personal information to be stored in a permanent state database.
On Sept. 13, 2023, NY Executive Law 228 went into effect, requiring the New York State Police (NYSP) to perform background checks for all ammunition purchases.
As Josh Hawkins considers the new law’s impact on his business, the general manager and co-owner of Just Holster It—a firearms store and training facility outside of Buffalo, New York—said that Gov. Kathy Hochul likely considers the law a success.
“It’s done pretty much what Hochul wanted it to do,” Mr. Hawkins told The Epoch Times.
Ms. Hochul’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
Mr. Hawkins said his store has run “a couple hundred” background checks for ammunition purchases. He said many purchases are delayed by the state system even though the federal system approves their gun purchase simultaneously.
He said that one woman was cleared by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to buy a pistol. However, she could not purchase ammunition for two weeks because her state background check was “pending.”
When he asked the NYSP for help, he was underwhelmed by the response.
“They’ve been no help at all,” he said.
In an email to The Epoch Times, the NYSP said the system has not been in place long enough to accurately gauge its efficiency. On Thursday, Oct. 19, an NYSP spokesperson wrote that data security issues raised by dealers have been addressed, and the system appears to be working.
“Currently, there is no statistical data regarding technical issues. Firearms and ammunition checks are handled in an accurate and timely manner,” the NYSP email reads.”
Peter Tilem, a criminal defense attorney from White Plains, New York. He said it appears the ammunition background check system is designed to frustrate purchasers while doing nothing substantive to prevent crime involving guns.
He said the fact that New York residents can cross state lines to buy ammunition makes the background check useless.
“Absolutely nothing prevents an individual from going to another state. It makes no sense,” he told The Epoch Times.
Mike Onysko, manager of McLain’s Sporting Goods in Endicott, New York, expressed concern over data security in the state system. He said it appears that customer information already in the state’s databases may be causing the delays.
The delays have been such a problem that he and other merchants reached out to their state assembly member Donna Lupardo to determine the cause.
She told them that people with fingerprints on file with the state—including police officers, firearms permit holders, corrections officers, and others—were more likely to be flagged since their names were already in the system.
Inconvenience is only one complaint. Mr. Onysko said ammunition comprises 35 to 40 percent of his store’s annual sales.
With hunting season underway, Mr. Onysko said he should have had to restock at least twice in the past month. But he hasn’t needed to because sales were half of what he sold during the same time last year.
Customers Crossing State Lines
“They’re just purchasing from elsewhere. People just don’t want to give up their information, and I don’t really blame them,” Mr. Onysko told The Epoch Times.According to the law, customer information is 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.”
The information is 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 then-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.
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 new state background check system, which did not exist.
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. Hochul 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.
She assured those listening that the law would only affect criminals.
Taking Issue With Governor
A representative of the shooting sports industry said that has not turned out to be the case.Mark Oliva is the managing director for public affairs of the NSSF: The Firearm Industry Trade Association.
In an email to The Epoch Times, Mr. Oliva wrote that the ammunition background check is just one more obstacle Ms. Hochul can place in the path of law-abiding gun owners.
“These policies aren’t making communities safer. New Yorkers would be better served if Gov. Hochul were to direct this same effort and resources into enforcing the laws against criminals instead of targeting those who obey the law,” Mr. Oliva wrote.
Mr. Hawkins agreed. He believes that state officials are more concerned with control than safety.
“A right delayed is a right denied. If Kathy Hochul wanted to protect people she wouldn’t make it this hard for them to protect themselves,” he said.
