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MAYVILLE, NY (WNY News Now) – A new push to help law enforcement easily identify businesses welcoming lawful concealed carry practices is underway in Chautauqua County.
“It’s basically a 8 ½ by 11 poster that businesses or private residences can place on their window acknowledging the new law that came out that went into effect this month. That anybody going into a private residence or business, if they were to carry a weapon into there, they could be violating the law. The way the law is written it that you have a signage stating that you’re allowing them into the private business with a concealed carry weapon,” explains Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone.
The legal change is part of a comprehensive legislative package strengthening New York’s gun laws, which was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul last month.
Sheriff Jim Quattrone says he feels the new measures only hinder legal gun ownership.
“Personally, my stance, I do believe we’re going to see this overturned in the courts,” says Quattrone. “That’s the process we have to wait for and wait for the judiciary to make a decision whether they feel that the sensitive area part of the law should be overturned or not.”
While the Sheriff’s Office will take incident reports of alleged violators, Quattrone tells us his deputies will first work to educate everyone about the new safety measures and gun handling requirements, if the law is not overturned.
“I don’t know very few if any instances of shootings in Chautauqua County that involve something with a concealed pistol permit. So, it’s those who are breaking the law, having the guns illegal, that are causing the problems and unfortunately, the legislation is penalizing those legal gun holders,” shares Quattrone.
Changes to the state’s pistol permit process have also taken effect, changing the permit renewal to three years instead of five, and raising the age requirement to 21 for a New Yorker to purchase a semi-automatic weapon.
Ahead of the policy changes, the Sheriff’s Office received around one thousand applications in the span of a month, the same number they usually receive in a year.
“We’re working with the licensing agent who’s the judge and trying to get through them as best as we can. Again, there’s parts of that we anticipate may be overturned as well, but we’re going to continue to work through that,” assures Quattrone.
The new application includes an extensive background check and review of the applicant’s social media accounts, disclosure of members in their household, and a 16-hour safety course followed by a 2-hour practical shooting course as well.
After they catch up on the backlog, the Sheriff’s office will work with local safety instructors to develop a new training curriculum before accepting new applications. These courses, however, cannot be approved by the state until July 2023.
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