If your a gun/firearm owner - heres another reason to tell Gov Cuomo and friends and family how you feel -
It Could Cost Over $800 to Own Guns in New York
Donate a little now or be forced to pay a lot later!
By this time, most gun owners are familiar with the unSAFE Act’s impact on their Constitutional freedoms. We are also learning about plans for new gun control laws in NY (unSAFE Act 2) and how our rights will further be eroded under Andrew Cuomo and other Democrats in the State Legislature. All of these laws are bad news for your freedom, but how will they affect your wallet? Sad to say, it is going to cost a lot more, upwards of $800, to be a gun owner if the current regime is not voted out of Albany.
1. Ammunition Background Checks: This provision of the unSAFE Act has not been fully implemented yet, and many speculate it is because the costs associated with it would cause massive outrage. Currently, gun shops that receive internet ammunition orders for NY consumers charge an average fee of $10 per transaction. Once the full State Police background check is in place for ammunition, it has been rumored that all ammunition transactions could cost up to $20 to process. Even if you only purchase ammo every other month, expect this to add up to over $120 per year.
2. Private Transfer Fee: Under the unSAFE Act all private firearm sales must now be processed by a license dealer with an associated background check performed. The mandated fee for this service is $10; problem is most dealers do not perform private transfers, because the fee is not worth their while. In practice, most dealers will arrange to buy a firearm off ‘private owner A’ and turn around and sell it to a prearranged ‘private owner B.’ For this service most dealers charge their basic transfer fees, similar to if you bought a gun over the internet, around $50.
3. Pistol Permits: Another component of the unSAFE Act that will likely cost you more in the long run is the 5-year renewal requirement for pistol permits. There is no fee associated with this item now, but it surely has an initial cost to the State and County governments. In time, we should expect these ‘administrative fees’ to be passed on to gun owners.
4. Microstamping: Although this is not a current requirement, the Assembly has perennially tried to pass laws requiring all pistols sold in NYS be capable of microstamping. This unproven technology, where to gun stamps a unique code into the ammo case when fired, is very expensive. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates it will add $150 to the cost of all new pistols sold.
5. Gun Owner Liability Insurance: Another law likely to be passed by gun control advocates is one requiring all individual gun owners to carry liability insurance. There are no baseline costs available for this type of insurance, as it is thankfully not required in any of the other 49 states. Experts believe the premium costs will be $200-500 per year.
There are other laws in the works, like safe storage requirements and ammunition coding that will likely cost you more as well, but estimating a cost is difficult with these items.
Only taking into account the fees we can estimate, if the average NY gun owner buys a moderate amount of ammo (with background check), sells a gun to a friend, buy a microstamping-capable pistol, and carries the required liability insurance they can expect to pay upwards $800 in new fees in 2015 and beyond.
Let that sink in, $800 per year, just to exercise your Constitutional rights.