Most NY Gun Shows Ensuring Background Checks
A majority of New York state gun show operators have agreed to new rules to ensure that criminal and mental health background checks are conducted on buyers, according to an article from The New York Times.
The agreement was reached after undercover agents from the state attorney general’s office were able to purchase weapons, including three AR-15 rifles, without any screening at half a dozen gun shows in the state, the article reports. The agreement was negotiated by the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, who brought criminal charges against the sellers identified in the sting.
The operators have also agreed to a broader system to track firearms at the shows and to guard against illegal sales in parking lots.
While New York law has required universal background checks for gun sales, including private sales at gun shows, since 2000, Schneiderman says there was ample evidence the rules were not being followed.
The 23 operators who have agreed to the new protocols are responsible for more than 80 percent of gun show sales in the state.
According to the Times: “Under the state procedures, participating gun-show operators are to track the firearms that go in and out of their events. Most shows will use a system in which guns brought by private sellers are tagged at the show’s entrance with the name of the owner or seller and the gun’s serial number.
“When someone buys a gun from a private seller at the show and passes a background check, a second tag will be affixed to the gun as documentation that the screening was conducted. When guns are taken out of the show, they will be checked to ensure that either the gun is leaving with the owner or seller who brought it in, or has a second tag to confirm that a background check was done for the new owner.
“The procedures developed by Mr. Schneiderman’s office also try to increase security in other ways, with operators limiting the number of entrances and exits to their shows, posting conspicuous signs publicizing the background-check requirement and notifying local law enforcement officials of the shows, so they can monitor them and patrol the area to deter sellers from working outside.
“The new procedures have already been tested at a number of gun shows this year, including one in Oneonta earlier this month.”
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