The Grandfathering Provision
When the SAFE Act redefined assault weapons under Penal Law Section 265.00(22), it created a significant compliance challenge for gun owners who lawfully possessed firearms that now fell under the broadened definition. To address this, the statute included a grandfathering provision: individuals who possessed assault weapons before the SAFE Act's effective date of January 15, 2013, were permitted to keep those weapons, provided they registered them with the New York State Police.[1]
Registration Deadline and Process
The registration deadline was April 15, 2014, giving owners approximately fifteen months to comply.[2] The registration process required owners to submit information about each qualifying weapon to the State Police, including make, model, caliber, and serial number. Registration was conducted at no cost to the applicant.
Upon successful registration, the weapon was documented in the State Police firearms registry. Owners received confirmation that their weapon was lawfully registered and could be retained. The registration does not expire, but the weapon remains subject to all other applicable provisions of the Penal Law, including safe storage requirements under PL 265.45.[3]
Transfer Restrictions
Registered assault weapons are subject to strict transfer limitations. An owner may not sell, give, or otherwise transfer a registered assault weapon to any individual within New York State, with the sole exception of transferring the weapon to a licensed firearms dealer.[4]
Permitted transfer options include:
- Sale or transfer to a licensed firearms dealer within New York
- Sale or transfer to a person or entity outside New York State, provided all applicable reporting requirements are met
- Surrender to a law enforcement agency
There is no provision allowing transfer to an immediate family member within the state, even through inheritance. Upon the death of a registered owner, the weapon must be transferred out of state, surrendered to law enforcement, or sold to a licensed dealer. It cannot be passed to heirs within New York.[5]
Failure to Register
Individuals who possessed assault weapons before the SAFE Act but failed to register by the April 15, 2014 deadline are in violation of the law. Possession of an unregistered assault weapon is prosecutable as criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree under PL 265.02(7), a Class D felony carrying a sentence of two to seven years in prison.[6] Alternatively, if the weapon was lawfully possessed before the deadline and the owner can demonstrate a good-faith effort at compliance, the offense may be charged as a Class A misdemeanor.
Safe Storage and Recertification
Registered assault weapons must comply with all applicable safe storage requirements. New York law mandates that firearms be stored with a gun locking device or in a safe storage depository when not in the immediate possession and control of the owner, particularly when a person under 18 or a prohibited person resides in the home.[7]
While the assault weapon registration itself does not require periodic renewal, owners with pistol permits must still comply with the three-year recertification requirement for those permits administered by the New York State Police.[8]
Compliance Rates
Reports following the registration deadline indicated that a relatively small number of weapons were registered compared to estimates of the total number of newly classified assault weapons in the state. The exact number of registered weapons has been the subject of Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests and political debate, but the State Police have not published comprehensive public data on registration totals.[2]