10/2/13
Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The NYSAFE Act’s enforcment by State Police has been leaked in documents sent to a law firm battling the state’s gun control law.
Max Tresmond says by registering your gun with State Police, it could be a back door way of having your guns confiscated. “If for any reason, a weapon cannot be registered, troopers will have probable cause to order confiscation of all weapons,” says Tresmond.
Tresmond says the state’s registration database will be central in eligibility. “All of the eligibility checks will use this database, which means people must comply with the registration provision for the NYSAFE Act to have any teeth whatsoever,” explains Tresmond. “The state division of police, their office of counsel recognizes without a complete database, it will be impossible to determine who is eligible to have firearms, who is eligible to have them confiscated from them, and the state has done a lot of work for counsel opposed to the law by narrowing the main issue right down to registration.” He adds if the registration part is thrown out, the state will have no basis to enforce the rest of the act. Tresmond says the state is concerned about people not registering their firearms.
One other issue is whether a person can be convicted if there’s no legal way to register. Tresmond referes to a 1968 case. “If a person is legally ineligible to register, the court tells us, they cannot be convicted for criminal possession of an unregistered firearm. The court makes no distinction between a charge of failing to register and criminal possession of an unregistered firearm,” notes Tresmond.