Reduce illegal guns on the street:
Work towards statewide coordination of law enforcement agencies at all levels of government.
Set stricter standards for gun dealers, which in turn will reduce illegal guns.
More stringent standards for gun dealers would include better record keeping, liability insurance and training of salespeople. Outside of New York City, 35% of crime guns were originally sold by a lawful gun dealer (A.9255 – Paulin).
Require a background check each time a gun is sold:
Apply this standard to all sales of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons. (Regulations already exist for handguns and for the sale of new guns.)
Pass legislation mandating a criminal background check on all SECONDARY sales or transfers of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons. Currently, sales and transfers by individuals outside of New York City are not checked.
Provide a safe home environment:
Conform state gun law to federal law when domestic violence orders of protection are involved.
Under federal law it is illegal for someone subject to a domestic violence order of protection to own a gun. When issuing orders of protection, state judges do not always order the removal of guns, even though the possession violates federal law.
Enact a Safe Storage/Child Access Prevention law, holding gun owners responsible for safely storing their guns.
In New York State in 1996, nearly 40% of the gun owners surveyed reported that they improperly stored their gun and left it accessible to a child or unauthorized person. (A.7885A - Paulin) (A.5363 – Weisenberg, S. 3687 - Schneiderman).
Ensure the safety of our communities by maintaining strict standards for concealed weapons:
Oppose legislation that would ease standards to obtain carry concealed weapons’ permits or allow people with carry permits from outside New York City to bring their guns inside city limits.
3 West 39th Street Suite 1007 New York, NY 10001
Tel. (212) 679-2345 Fax (212) 679-2484 Email nyagv@nyagv.org http// www.nyagv.org