New York's SAFE Act and Other Gun Stuff

I've been wanting to put a link to info on the SAFE Act. As a non-ammosexual, I don't see anything that bothers me. Some things I like a lot.

The maximum capacity for all magazines is 10 rounds. 

Ammunition dealers are required to do background checks, similar to those for gun buyers. Dealers are required to report all sales, including amounts, to the state. Internet sales of ammunition are allowed, but the ammunition will have to be shipped to a licensed dealer in New York state for pickup.

Requires creation of a registry of assault weapons.

Requires designated mental health professionals who believe a mental health patient made a credible threat of harming others to report the threat to a mental health director, who would then have to report serious threats to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. A patient's gun could be taken from him or her.

Stolen guns are required to be reported within 24 hours. Failure to report can result in a misdemeanor.

Requires background checks for all gun sales, including by private sellers - except for sales to members of the seller's immediate family. 

Guns must be "safely stored" from any household member who has been convicted of a felony or domestic violence crime, has been involuntarily committed, or is currently under an order of protection.

Mandates that all purchases of firearms go through a licensed firearm dealer(FFL), unless it is an exempted transfer between family members.

Requires pistol permit holders or owners of registered assault weapons to have them renewed at least every five years.

Allows law enforcement officials to seize regulated types of firearms from an individual, provided the individual has been certified by a medical professional to be too mentally unstable to safely possess "spray" firearms, shotguns, or rifles.

I'm not that excited about the "assault weapons." They're scary looking, but I believe (skimpy as my gun knowledge is) no more dangerous than a deer rifle. The rest of things the act does seem pretty reasonable. 

On this subject, I want to recommend a great book which is a very balanced look at gun laws. That is "Gun Fight" by Adam Winkler. He follows the DC gun law going to the Supreme Court and gives a lot of history on gun regulation in our country. It was amazing to hear that Dodge City, Tombstone, Virginia City and all these had strict gun laws. You had to turn in guns when entering the town. Concealed weapons of any kind was a serious violation. 

And good for Julianne Moore. 

We're acting now because, for too long, the gun debate in this country has focused on choosing a side: pro-gun or anti-gun. That is simply a false choice. We respect the Second Amendment but keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of convicted criminals, terrorists, domestic abusers, stalkers and dangerous people isn't anti-gun; it's pro-common sense.

The ways that we reduced auto fatalities can serve as a model for how we can reduce gun violence.

Many of us remember driving around without seatbelts or when driving drunk wasn't taboo. Mothers 

Against Drunk Driving and other groups teamed up with legislators and, together, they made it unacceptable and illegal to drive drunk or without buckling up.

As a result, countless lives have been saved.

While we have made dramatic progress in states and cities across the country, we still haven't done for gun safety what we've done for auto safety. The problem comes down to a powerful but calcified gun lobby that is out of step with its own constituents of gun owners and with the American people.

We know that more than 90 percent of Americans support common-sense reforms that are proven to save lives. What not enough people know and what the gun lobby doesn't want more of us to know is that a large majority of gun owners support these reforms too.

The Creative Council has already started our work and we need you to join us and help grow this movement. Please go to wecanendgunviolence.org, sign up, learn more about what you can do and take action.