ALBANY – Between January 2013 and April 2014, just 44,485 assault-style weapons were registered under the New York’s SAFE Act gun control law.
That’s according to a report in the Albany Times Union, which also says a total of 23,847 people applied to register their newly defined weapons with the State Police.
In Chautauqua County, just 311 weapons had been registered prior to the deadline.
The statistics, hidden from the public for more than a year by state officials, were given to Rochester-area lawyer Paloma Capanna earlier this week in response to a lawsuit she filed on behalf of radio host Bill Robinson. The data had been withheld by the State Police despite a flurry of requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.
Capanna said the state’s tally of fewer than 45,000 weapons was a sign that the law was being ignored by many.
People who already owned assault style weapons were allowed to keep them but were supposed to register them with the State Police by the April 2014 deadline, or risk a fine or possibly even jail time as a result of the Class A Misdemeanor.
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