New gun legislation causes confusion, concern

ELIZABETHTOWN | Gov. Kathy Hochul convened the New York state assembly and senate in an extraordinary session June 30. On July 1, she signed a bill, drafted in this session, supporting further restrictions on concealed carry weapons. The bill is in response to a Supreme Court decision that ruled a 109-year-old New York law, which requires citizens to have a permit to concealed carry a gun in public and proper cause to get the permit, unconstitutional. The new gun legislation restricts the carrying of concealed weapons in a list of "sensitive locations" including airports, houses of worship, government buildings and parks. Government employees and elected officials in the Adirondack Park have expressed great concern with the legislation and how it applies to the six-million-acre forest preserve. State Assemblyman Matt Simpson announced July 8 that he and Sen. Dan Stec proposed legislation that "will codify the exemption of state forest preserve land in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks from the prohibition of firearms." On July 7, Sen. Stec said the "governor's statement on the Adirondack Parks and gun control bill don't match legislative intent." The release includes a statement issued by a spokesperson for Gov. Hochul's office that said: "The new law, which goes into effect September 1 and also includes exemptions for hunting and hunter education programs, changes nothing for lawful gun owners on both Forest Preserve and private lands within the blue line of the Adirondacks and Catskills. These areas are not considered 'sensitive locations' under the law." Stec said this message adds further confusion because, during floor debate during the extraordinary session, the senate democrat sponsor said it did apply to public parts of the park. In a video of the New York state senate session July 1, Sen. Thomas F. O'Mara asked, "is a sensitive area the Adirondack Park?" To which Sen. Zellnor Y. Myrie, a sponsor of the bill responded: "The parts of the Adirondack Park that are public would fall under the sensitive location criteria laid out here, but there are parts of the park, as you know, that are not public, that are private property, so this pertains to the public portions of that park." Assemblyman Billy Jones released a statement July 27 also asking the state for clarification on the legislation. "There has been confusion in the media and among North Country residents about the concealed carry law that was passed earlier this month, especially regarding the Adirondack Park, sporting competitions like biathlons, and on conservation easements," he said in the statement. "This law will impact over 100,000 New Yorkers with firearm permits who live in the counties within the Adirondack Park and they all deserve clarification on this bill." Jones also said he wrote Gov. Hochul a letter, with five questions about the bill. On Aug. 4, Jones released another statement, expressing his disappointment that his letter was sent over a week ago and the governor still had not released any regulations. "New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what this bill means for lawful gun owners across the state, especially residents of the Adirondack Park who are worried that they will be guilty of a Class E felony because of concealed carry restrictions in state parks," he said in the statement. "There are also concerns about having enough training facilities and certified instructors in rural communities across the state to provide the training required under this new legislation that needs to be addressed." At a Q&A session given after speaking at Mt. Van Hovenberg July 29, Gov. Hochul was asked how she responds to assembly representatives and Sen. Dan Stec saying the new legislation would make gun owners in the Adirondacks face felonies for owning guns. Gov. Hochul said that the law will not make Adirondack park residents felons for owning guns and they are currently in the process of defining what "sensitive places" are. "I stand here and reassure the people that unless you're going into a playground a hospital, a school within the Adirondack Park, it is not considered a public park, so your rights are protected," Hochul said. The legislation also outlines new requirements for those seeking to get or renew, a concealed carry permit. This includes character references, firearm safety training courses, live-fire testing and background checks. The new requirements are set to begin Sept. 1. Essex County government departments that are a part of the pistol permit process, as well as gun owners in the county, are growing more concerned about what the legislation will mean for them. Deputy County Clerk Chelsea Merrihew said that although a lot of the additional work will fall on licensing officers, especially the state police, the clerk's office is where everyone calls with questions and concerns about the new legislation. "That's what's made it especially hard recently," Merrihew said. "Everybody's calling, and we're just not really able to give them a lot of answers. That's very frustrating." Merrihew said the current process for obtaining a concealed carry permit in Essex County begins with an application providing basic information and character references. Applicants then sign a document saying they're OK with police doing a background check, get fingerprinted and bring the complete application to the county clerk's office with proof of fingerprints. They get their photo taken, then the pistol permit office of the clerk packages everything up. The office usually waits until a few applications build up, which typically doesn't take long, then send them to New York State Police in Raybrook, where they do an investigation on each applicant, call references and conduct background checks. Merrihew said she does not believe there are people whose only job is this process, everyone has other duties as well. "It's a lot of work," she said. "And when more applications come in, they get backed up a bit." State police then return all the information they found in their investigation back to the county clerk's office, which then sends the packet to the licensing officer. In Essex County, the licensing officer is Rick Meyer, the county judge. Meyer individually evaluates each packet. The clerk's office gets the packets back when Meyer has made a decision and sends out letters notifying people if their application was accepted or denied. "Beginning to end, it can take eight to 10 months," Merrihew said. Essex County Sheriff David Reynolds said one of the biggest concerns his department has logistically, is the 16 hours of in-person firearms safety training. He currently has four certified firearms instructors. According to Merrihew, there are currently about 7,400 active pistol permits in Essex County. Reynolds said the state has not offered any support when it comes to the new training requirements. "Everything in here is written confusingly," Reynolds said. "I'm not a lawyer, so we're trying to interpret it." The New York State Sheriffs' Association released a statement July 6, condemning the law. "We want to be clear: The Sheriffs of New York do strongly support reasonable licensing laws that aim to assure that firearms do not get into the wrong hands," the statement said. "We do not support punitive licensing requirements that aim only to restrain and punish law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights." The statement also said if the association believes if they had been consulted before the law was passed, they could have "helped the Legislators discern the difference between those two things, and the result would have been better, more workable licensing provisions that respect the rights of our law-abiding citizens and punish the lawbreakers."

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New gun legislation causes confusion, concern

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