NY SAFE Act: Collateral Damage Rings Death Knell for Youth Marksmanship Programs

By Alan Chwick

New York –-(Ammoland.com)- As the Managing Coach of the Freeport Junior Club (FJC) (www.FreeportJuniorClub.org) we rely on donations and fund-raising, as does other programs such as 4-H, Boy Scouts, Future Farmers of America, JROTC, Conservation Programs, etc. to sustain our program.

But most of all, we rely on manufacturers’ generosity in their Youth Purchase Programs.

In past years, we have utilized the Youth Purchase Programs of gun, accessory and ammunition manufacturers. But, the NY SAFE Act has done us in!

Not speaking for any other program, and looking at the prospects for the FJC only, without the ammo purchase programs, we are OUT OF BUSINESS.

First, a little FJC background:

• Our program meets 24-28 Sundays a year from September to June.
• We run from 2-5pm.
• We have 90-100 youth members per year.
• We have no limitation on ammo (.22LR, .177 Pellets and BBs) use.
• We average 3000-5000 rounds of .22LR per session (i.e. per Sunday).
• We use between 85,000 and 140,000 rounds annually.

As you can see, ammo is probably our largest expense and constant concern.

Well, one of the provisions of the NY SAFE Act deals with direct ammunition orders (Internet, mail order, etc.). Simply, as of March 2014, it is against the law to have ordered ammo sent in and delivered to private citizens, as a NICS-style Background Check from a dealer is required for the ammo purchases.

And, these Youth Purchase Programs are setup for direct delivery.

Here is where the death knell sounds. We, as a program, put in our order for ammo to our Youth Purchase Program that does ammunition. Below is their redacted response. Bare in mind, I can not blame them, except that they started the ban a bit early. I can understand their fear of a NYS law suit, and such.

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: SAFE Act foiled us

Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 14:23:40 +0000

From: REDACTED

To: AJChwick <ajchwick@freeportjuniorclub.org>

Alan-

We were ready to allocate you some .22 ammo, but our lawyers informed us the

SAFE act prevents us from making direct sales in the state of New York.

Sorry,

But under the new law we will not be able to work with New York youth

Programs directly at all.

NAME, COMPANY, CONTACT Information REDACTED

On an up-note, I have been informed by the New York State Police that this type of ammo transfer is considered a “donation,” and therefore outside of the bounds of the NY SAFE Act and thereby permissible. The officer involved, who is tasked with the interpretation of the NY SAFE Act, is willing to speak with the ammo company and to write a formal positive opinion on the matter. As of this writing though, the ammo company has yet to respond to my calls.

Whether the ammo company responds to us, or not, I must put the full weight of the blame, for the possible destruction of all NYS Youth Programs, on the NYS Governor and the NYS Legislature for creating this mess without even reading the bill before voting on it and making it law.

I personally hope that Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature are very proud of their foolish actions and what they have done and accomplished.

They have effectively DESTROYED Youth Marksmanship programs. To this loss, I must add the loss of state sales tax revenue, loss of Federal Conservation money from the Pittman–Robertson Act (a.k.a. The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration of 1937), loss of businesses, loss of employment, loss of International Pistol practice & competition, the eventual loss of CMP Service Rifle competition, and much, much more.

I sarcastically add, “G_D BLESS THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF NEW YORK!”