ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is backing off a key element of his much heralded 2013 gun control law, the NY-SAFE Act.
In a major concession to Senate Republicans and new Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, the Cuomo administration agreed to suspend development of a troubled statewide database of ammunition sales.
The agreement also gives Flanagan a veto over the database’s future development, stating that “no expenditures of state monies shall be allocated” for its future development unless both sides agree on a plan to move forward.
“This is a clear victory for Second Amendment rights in New York,” said Sen. James Seward (R-Oneonta), who announced the deal.
“The plan to establish a statewide ammunition database has been fraught with problems since it was first conceived, not to mention it infringes on the rights of lawful firearm owners,’ Seward added.
Cuomo administration officials did not immediately comment.
Conceived as a way to track ammunition sales and provide for background checks of purchasers, the database has been a technical headache from the start and state officials have struggled to get it off the ground.
The agreement to suspend it, which was signed by Flanagan and top Cuomo aide Jim Malatras, marks the first time Cuomo has publicly disavowed any element of the SAFE Act, which was passed in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Leah Gunn Barrett of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, declined to comment on the agreement but stressed that other key elements of the SAFE Act, including tighter restrictions on assault weapons and background checks for all gun purchases, remain in effect.
