ALBANY – As the lawsuits pile up against the recently signed NY SAFE Act, which further regulates and restricts various fire arms and related accessories, some state lawmakers are beginning to craft amendments to the law. However, even if some aspects are changed, many of its opponents insist they’ll settle for nothing less than full repeal.
According to the Albany Times Union, the effort to amend the law is coming from Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, who wants to remove the stipulation that limits the amount of ammunition that can be put into a magazine, reducing the number of bullets from 10 to 7. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is not ruling out the change.
Both officials joined Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in supporting the new law, though they acknowledged almost immediately that changes would be needed to exempt law enforcement officials from some provisions. Cuomo has said he is open to “technical” amendments — including an explicit exemption for fake guns used in movie and TV production.
Passed in a “dark-of-night” session in Albany in mid-January, the SAFE Act broadens the definition of banned assault weapons, increases penalties for illegal gun possession, reduces public access to gun permit information, and allows mental health professionals to report concerns about a gun-owning patient who posed a risk of harming himself or others.
Several groups have filed lawsuits against the SAFE ACT, are not only challenging the constitutionality of the Act, but also the method by which it was approved, saying the public was not given the required three-day review of the bill before being acted on by lawmakers. Arguments for the first court case will be heard in Albany on Monday.
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