Earlier this week, the New York State Assembly passed NY SAFE Act to strengthen the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and on Friday Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski announced he’s going to propose an amendment to the law.
Zebrowski’s amendment will prohibit any surcharge or fee from being imposed for the new five-year pistol permit renewal and assault rifle registry. Under the law, pistol owners will have to renew their license every five years, and it will also create a registry for newly classified assault riffles. While the law didn’t call for a fee, there is no language prohibiting fees in the future either.
“I think it is important that we explicitly clarify the law so that no fees can ever be imposed for these programs in the future,” Zebrowski said. “I am happy the current administration has no plans to collect a fee, however, I think it is important that we assure gun owners that these programs are purely about public safety and can never be used as a tax.”
He added the possibility of a fee could hurt the program.
“We want law abiding gun owners to cooperate with this new process and an arbitrary fee or surcharge threatens the success of the program by creating a disincentive,” Zebrowski said. “By clarifying the new law gun owners can be confident there will be no new costs with license renewal.”
