Safe Act stipulations require reading

By Will Elliott | Outdoors writer

on December 20, 2014 - 6:05 PM

Pistol permit holders in New York State, as well as owners of long guns, need to read and heed
the New York SAFE Act (Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013) for
details on recertification, rejection, expiration and other aspects of permit holding.
During a winter meeting of the New York State Association of County Clerks, State Police
officials presented a 40-item Power Point presentation outlining the recertification process
required under the SAFE Act.
After Jan. 31, 2018, SAFE Act requirements will impose automatic revocation for permit holders
who fail to recertify. State Police will begin a pilot program of recertification in Albany,
Schenectady and Fulton Counties. The process will be conducted by State Police. Two points
were noted: Recertification is a State Police function and county clerks do not have a role.
Counties will be notified when recertification is approved.
Recertification letters will be sent out statewide to selected groups of permit holders between
March and June of 2015. The new system will require all permit holders to obtain a valid NYS
drivers license or ID in order to recertify a permit.
The recertification process consists of four steps: submission of application, acceptance of
application, review/return for correction and approval/revocation.
Submitted applications are checked against seven database sources: NCICs, MHL/946, orders of
probation, DMV, parole, probation, and wanted and missing.
State Police Lt. James Sherman said, The object of the recertification process is to create a
pristine database that any law enforcement official would be able to access at any time with
real-time information. He added, the pistol permit data would be linked to the DMV database
and an officer would know a pulled-over vehicle was owned by a pistol permit holder.
As for disclosure, a pistol permit applicant has the option to have the information on the
recertification application exempted from public disclosure. Near the end of the presentation it
was noted, Indicating a pistol permit on the face of a drivers license is not a decision that has
been made yet.
County clerks statewide and permit holders await further steps in this recertification procedure.
Current permit holders should check for an expiration date and submit properly completed
recertification applications well before a permit expires.

A distinction has been made between a rejected and an expired permit. In the case of a rejected
pistol permit, provisions elsewhere in the SAFE Act could lead to police officials confiscating
not only pistols held under a permit, but also long guns in the possession of the permit holder.
Pistol permit holders and those planning to apply for a permit will have to do some deliberate
reading and interpreting of SAFE Act stipulations at the start of the New Year.
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