With the State Police declining to appeal an earlier trial court decision ordering them to release the data, the number of people who have registered assault style weapons under the SAFE Act became public on Monday.
“I’m grinning from ear to ear,” said Rochester lawyer Paloma Capanna, who successfully sued on behalf of a client for the information.
The bottom line: 23,847 people since the 2013 law took effect have applied to register assault style weapons. A total of 44,485 weapons have been registered.
Here’s a breakdown by county of applications to register assault weapons since Jan. 15, 2013:
Albany 484
Allegany 83
Bronx 35
Broome 351
Cattaraugus 137
Cayuga 194
Chautauqua 311
Chemung 195
Chenango 116
Clinton 203
Columbia 124
Cortland 97
Delaware 96
Dutchess 731
Erie 1,593
Essex 107
Franklin 113
Fulton 102
Genesee 131
Greene 113
Hamilton 21
Herkimer 140
Jefferson 291
Kings (Brooklyn) 54
Lewis 60
Livingston 128
Madison 160
Monroe 1,408
Montgomery 87
Nassau 2,755
New York (Manhattan) 1,640
Niagara 492
Oneida 451
Onondaga 916
Ontario 260
Orange 985
Orleans 87
Oswego 281
Otsego 126
Putnam 411
Queens 109
Rensselaer 334
Richmond (Staten Island) 52
Rockland 451
Saint Lawrence 259
Saratoga 573
Schenectady 274
Schoharie 78
Schuyler 49
Seneca 69
Steuben 208
Suffolk 3,865
Sullivan 229
Tioga 122
Tompkins 134
Ulster 463
Warren 181
Washington 124
Wayne 244
Westchester 1,498
Wyoming 84
Yates 87
(Source: New York State Police)
And here is the court document with the registration data. Registration statistics are in the last five pages or so:
The data had been withheld following an earlier request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.
She had filed suit on behalf of Rochester radio host Bill Robinson under Article 78, a proceeding that allows legal actions against the state. She argued in State Supreme Court in Albany County that there was no reason the simple number of registrations should be kept secret.
The plaintiff’s FOIL was submitted on Jan. 27, 2014, and prompted the standard letter from a State Police Records Access Officer noting its receipt and promising another response within 20 days.
But then the State Police fell silent, ignoring two letters from Robinson sent in April and June. In July, he filed an appeal based on the contention that the non-response was a denial, and the judge agreed.
One of the highlights of the SAFE, or Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act is a ban on ”assault-style” weapons, which are defined as having military-type features such as a pistol grip or flash suppressor.
Weapons such as civilian versions of the M16 military rifle, or the Soviet-designed AK47 are popular examples of the guns banned under the law.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed the bill though at the start of 2013, just weeks after the Newtown, Conn. school massacre.
People who already owned assault style weapons, though, were grandfathered but they were supposed to register them with the State Police in April 2014.
Critics believed that was an intrusion into their privacy, and as the logistics of tracking the registration became clear, many predicted that only a handful of people would actually register their guns.
Capanna said that appears to be the case, with fewer than 45,000 weapons being registered.
While there is no firm count, observers have estimated there could be hundreds of thousands or even a million assault-style weapons in New York.
In Connecticut, which later passed a similar registration law, 50,016 weapons have been registered.
But with a population five times that of the Nutmeg State, fewer weapons have been registered in New York, suggesting widespread non-compliance.
Additionally, local police including several county sheriffs, have opposed parts of the SAFE Act and suggested that enforcement of the registration component was not a priority.
The trial court decision, from Acting Supreme Court Justice Thomas McNamara, directed the State Police to release 15 categories of information related to the state registry, including detailed geographic breakdowns (including county and ZIP code) and the number of applications as opposed to actual registrations.
There is also a breakdown of pistols, shotguns and rifles that were registered.
