The NY Assault Weapons Registry: Another Failed Policy of The Cuomo Administration

2nd Amendment Coalition
White Paper Series - 2015
THE NY ASSAULT WEAPONS REGISTRY:

ANOTHER FAILED POLICY OF CUOMO
by Paloma A. Capanna,
Attorney & Policy Analyst
www.2ACoalition.org
8316 Irish Road
Colden, New York 14033
(716) 941-3286
The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

by Paloma A. Capanna,
Attorney & Policy Analyst
Copyright 2015, 2nd Amendment Coalition.

First edition, September 2015.
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Foreword
When I submitted the Freedom of Information request for the
assault weapons registry statistics, I thought those numbers
would never see the light of day. This Governor Cuomo
repeatedly says the word transparency, while actively guarding
the release of government information to the voting public.
We knew there was active, statewide opposition to the
registration of firearms with this Governor. We saw it at rallies.
We heard it at meetings. We captured it in radio broadcasts. And,
we knew this Governor would not want to hand over the very
statistics that would reflect our lack of respect for his so-called
policies that are nothing more than a disguise for robbing us of
our civil liberties, including our Second Amendment rights.
I had to sue Governor Cuomo and the New York State Police to
get these statistics, but, we won. Now we can provide the first
analysis of its kind to demonstrate the folly of having an assault
weapons registry.
Any notion that an assault weapons registry will reduce
violent crime should be dismissed, and this White Paper spells out
why. Gun violence is perpetrated predominantly in large cities by
men 18-24 years of age, against each other, using stolen handguns.
The assault weapons registry does absolutely nothing to address
these well-known and well-documented facts.
Join me in calling for the repeal of the SAFE Act and its
assault weapons registry.
We will be safer without it.
Bill Robinson
Host, Second Amendment Radio Show
www.2ndAmendmentShow.com
Page 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When New York Governor Cuomo announced his emergency
measures that would become the SAFE Act, he stood on a
platform that the legislation would enhance public safety.
There is no research to support his claim that the assault
weapons registry that was part of the SAFE Act will
correlate to a reduction in crimes involving firearms. One
cannot even properly analyze the concept of an assault
weapons registry because there is no way to quantify the
number of such firearms manufactured, owned by civilians, or
misused by criminals. Governor Cuomo was shooting blanks
when he made his claims.
Instead, what really happened was that Governor Cuomo
used the SAFE Act, including provisions about assault
weapons and an assault weapons registry, to openly declare
war on law-abiding gun owners. When Governor Cuomo
staked his flag, gun owners pushed back through an act of
widespread civil disobedience of refusal to register their
firearms. The outcome of this dynamic was not only a failed
assault weapons registry, but, also, a reduction in public
respect for Governor Cuomo, specifically, and the state
government, generally. Governor Cuomos assault weapons
registry works against not in favor of public safety.
Page 2
1. A BILL UNDER FALSE PRETENSES

On the day he signed the SAFE Act into law, Governor
Cuomo took a victory lap along the NYS Thruway to host
signing ceremonies in several large cities.1 The Press Release
of the Governors office proclaimed This new law will limit
gun violence through common sense, reasonable reforms that
will make New York a safer place to live. When society
confronts serious issues, it is the function of government to do
something, and the NY SAFE Act will now give New York
State the toughest, strongest protections against violence in the
nation.2 The Bill Memorandum that accompanied the SAFE
Act to the floor claimed it would [reduce] the availability
of assault weapons and [deter] the criminal use of firearms
while promoting a fair, consistent and efficient method of
ensuring that sportsmen and other legal gun owners have full
enjoyment of the guns to which they are entitled.3 The
Governor was so proud of the new law that he issued the press
releases in seven languages.
Senate Bill 2230-2013, which became the SAFE Act, was
passed on an emergency basis in January 2013 through a
process that suspended the three-day desk rule and had
Legislators voting on a complex Bill they told the public they
had not read.4 No research materials were cited in the Bill
Page 3
Memorandum or in any of the Governors speeches. No

testimony was taken by either chamber of the NYS
Legislature. It is unclear who, if anyone, Governor Cuomo
consulted in advance of jamming through his agenda in less
than 48-hours.5
Equally, there is nothing to suggest that Governor Cuomo
studied the recently repealed long gun registry in Canada. Just
one year earlier, in February 2012, the national government of
Canada voted to repeal the long-gun registry it had enacted in
1995. Shortly before the vote, the Canadian Public Safety
Minister was quoted as saying, It does nothing to help put an
end to gun crimes, nor has it saved one Canadian life.6 A few
months later, the Canadian government confirmed it had
destroyed millions of records of registered long guns with only
the exception of court-protected data in Quebec.7 Costs
associated with the registry for implementation and operation
rose from $119 million at inception in 1995 to an estimated
$527 million in December 2001 to $629 million in April 2002
to $1 billion by 2005.8 It was reported that 75% of Canadian
gun owners met the January 1, 2003 registration deadline.9
Any one of these data points should have been considered by
Governor Cuomo prior to his march down the same failed
policy path.
Page 4
The reason we know with certainty that there is no research

to support the claims of Governor Cuomo is because there is
no way to quantify the number of assault weapons
manufactured, owned by civilians, or used illegally by
criminals. Without this raw data, no analysis can be
performed. No manufacturer or governmental unit quantifies
the number of firearms manufactured, sold, or owned in the
civilian market on the basis of an assault weapon label.
Similarly, no law enforcement agency maintains records of
assault weapons used in criminal activity. Without
production and ownership numbers and without any law
enforcement agency data, there is no way to measure either the
use of an assault weapon in criminal activity or whether any
registration correlates to a reduction in the use of an assault
weapon in criminal activity, even assuming 100% owner
participation in such a registry.
Governor Cuomo may have made claims of increased
public safety while standing at the pulpit of political press
relations, but he did so in a manner that was false advertising.
He did so without any research to back up his claims and he
did so on the heels of the repeal of the Canadian national long
gun registry, which had achieved a 75% compliance rate and
which had cost an estimated $1 billion.
Page 5
2. NY ASSAULT WEAPONS REGISTRY STATISTICS

The assault weapons registry was created in 2013 as part of
the SAFE Act. Under NY Penal Law 400.00(16-A),
individual owners of assault weapons were required to
register qualified firearms by April 15, 201410 or otherwise
dispose of such firearms through legally proscribed methods11.
There was no grandfathering provision for firearms already
owned. The required registration applied to all firearms that
met the New York definition of assault weapon at New
York Penal Law 265.00(22).
Simply stated, assault weapon registration was required
for any semi-automatic firearm that met the following criteria:
a rifle or pistol + a detachable magazine + one or more
enumerated features;
a shotgun + one or more enumerated features; or,
a shotgun + revolving cylinder.12. 13
The most important thing to note about the definition of the

assault weapon is that it is a features-based definition.
There is nothing about the dividing line between a legal and an
illegal firearm, using the assault weapon definition, that is
in any way related to the firing mechanism of the firearm.
Page 6
From the time of policy inception in January 2013 to the

court-ordered release in June 2015, the assault weapons
registry statistics were an actively guarded secret of
Governor Cuomo and the NYS Police. The figures were
obtained as the result of a legal victory in Robinson vs.
Cuomo, following 18 months of litigation over a Freedom of
Information Request submitted to them by Bill Robinson, host
of The Second Amendment Radio Show.14
NYS Police records as of June 16, 2015 reflect a total
number of assault weapons registered of 44,485 as a result
of 25,536 submitted applications from 23,847 individuals.15
Some applications were rejected, bringing down the actual
number of individuals with registered assault weapons to be
23,344.16,17
The statistics included registered assault weapons broken
down into three primary types of firearms, categorized by the
NYS Police as follows:
42,230 rifles (95% of total assault weapons registered)
1,133 pistols18 (3% of total assault weapons registered)
842 shotguns (2% of total assault weapons registered)19
Page 7
What these figures demonstrate, first and foremost, is that the

registration process disproportionately captured sportsmen
using rifles and not criminals using handguns.
Similarly, Connecticut in March 2013 passed assault
weapons legislation that included a registry requirement with
a deadline for application to register of January 1, 2014.20, 21
The Connecticut registration requirement did not apply to
assault weapons manufactured prior to September 13,
1994.22 A total of 25,640 individuals registered 51,185
assault weapons in Connecticut.23 The Connecticut
statistics were released by CT State Police within a few days
of the registration deadline.
The immediate question upon release of the statistics was
what do the numbers mean? Did the 44,485 assault
weapons registered in New York represent 5% or 95% of the
firearms owned that fit the Penal Law definition as of the
registration deadline? Another question became how many
law-abiding gun owners had become putative misdemeanants
for failure to register and putative felons for continued
ownership, possession, and use of assault weapons?24
The only number cited for potential total owners of assault
weapons as of the registration deadlines in New York and
Page 8
Connecticut came from the National Shooting Sports

Foundation. The NSSF put out estimates of assault weapon
ownership at 350,000 for Connecticut and 1,000,000 for New
York.25 The NSSF estimated its figure based upon numerous
surveys, consumer purchases, NICS background check data
and also private-party transactions. While it is true that the
NSSF is the trade association for the firearms industry, even
the premier, national, industry organization had to resort to
estimates. The hard data simply doesnt exist.
Equally, data on illegal use of assault weapons doesnt
exist. Data on criminal activity involving a firearm runs along
two lines: homicides and all other crimes involving a firearm.
Just as there is a basic formula to the assault weapon
definition, there is a set of basic facts about criminal misuse of
firearms, particularly in homicides. The FBI maintains a
National Crime Information Center database of all firearms
reported stolen, lost, and recovered, as well as all weapons
used in the commission of a crime that are designed to expel a
projectile by air, carbon dioxide, or explosive action.26 The
ATF handles firearm trace requests from law enforcement
agencies through its Firearms Tracing System.27 These two,
federal agency systems provide a wealth of information on
criminal use of firearms.
Page 9
In 2013, an estimated 14,196 persons were victims of

homicide in the United States, representing the lowest number
of homicide victims since 1968, and representing the seventh
consecutive year of decline.28 In New York in 2013, there
were 648 victims of homicide29 during which a firearm was
used in 362 (56%) cases.30 Of those 362 firearms used in a
homicide, 290 were handguns, representing 80% of the
firearms total.31 Only 4 rifles (1%) were used and only
19 shotguns (5%) were used.32
Keep in mind, as noted above, registration of pistols was
only 2% of firearms registered to the New York assault
weapons registry.33 The registry statistics are the inverse of
what we would expect to see if it were actually snagging
criminals and preventing their future, illegal firearms use.
Keep in mind also that well prior to the SAFE Act to
own a handgun in New York one must be licensed through a
detailed and extensive application and background check
process. Additionally, every handgun must be registered by
the licensee at the local county clerks office and listed on the
physical handgun license.34 Any registration of assault
pistols in the assault weapons registry amounted to little
more than the duplicitous registration of approximately
Page 10
800 firearms that were already have been registered through a

long-standing, pre-existing state statutory requirement.
The handgun used for criminal activity is one illegally
possessed by an individual, even if that criminal would
otherwise have been eligible to apply to obtain a handgun
license and to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer.
Most illegal firearms in New York originate from out-ofstate.35 The ATF reported 8,539 trace recoveries in New York
in 2013,36 of which 6,214 (73%) were pistols and revolvers37.
More than 50% of firearms traces (4,022) were recovered in
New York City; the remaining traces were spread across 529
different municipalities across the state with Rochester being
the second highest recovery site at 624 (7%) firearms
recovered.38 These statistics also are the inverse of the
registry statistics: rifles were the predominantly registered
firearm, but are the least frequently recovered after illegal use.
These registration statistics also belie the extensive federal
requirements on manufacturers that provide the foundation for
the firearms trace. Every firearm manufactured in the U.S. is
required to be serialized and to bear other mandatory,
permanent, engraved markings from the point of
manufacture.39, 40 The serial number is part of the firearms
transaction records from the point of original manufacture to
Page 11
the point of customer sale.41 The serial number is used to

trace the firearm to its last known owner when recovered by
law enforcement officers. Every firearm begins its product
life cycle as a lawful product. Those firearms used in crime,
at some point in the product life cycle, flip from the lawful
stream of commerce to illegal trafficking in firearms. Since
1967, the FBI/ATF have been conducting traces of firearms
used in crime for national, state, local, and international law
enforcement agencies. The NY assault weapons registry
adds nothing to this pre-existing federal firearms compliance
and law enforcement process.
The long gun is so infrequently used in criminal activity
that it is simply lumped together as part of all other firearms
that are not handguns that are used, for example, in
homicides.42 The shotgun and the rifle are required by federal
law to be of a certain length, and that length makes it
inconvenient for criminal use. For those long guns recovered
from crime scenes and viewed by this author in law
enforcement forensic settings, the long gun has been sawed off
to shorten its barrel length. Both the act of removing,
obliterating, or altering serial numbers and the act of
mutilating the barrel of the firearm to a less than statutorilyminimum length are federal crimes.43 Likewise, it is a federal
Page 12
crime for an FFL dealer to sell a firearm with an obliterated

serial number.44 Even the possession of such non-compliant
firearms is a crime. The use of the firearm in a crime is a
separate crime or an enhanced sentencing factor or both.45 All
of these safeguards already existed at federal and state law
prior to the passage of the SAFE Act.
Finally, take note of a simple point: no law enforcement
statistics are maintained on the basis of assault weapons.
Generally, the figures are firearm and non-firearm or by
type of handgun, shotgun, rifle. There is nothing in
federal, New York, or other, local data that provides a
breakout of raw numbers under an assault weapon heading.
It is not surprising that the rifle is the highest percentage of
total firearms registered as assault weapons. The registry
reflects law-abiding gun owners, not criminals. The modern
sporting rifle is used everywhere from hunting in the woods to
competing at the local rod and gun club to self-defense at
home. The average cost per rifle as of 2010 was $1,083, more
than 80% of which were purchased new.46 The modern,
polymer rifle is a platform that allows even the casual firearms
user to plug-and-play with parts, from changing out a fixed to
a telescoping stock, to adding a forward pistol grip, and more.
More than 80% of owners of modern sporting rifles will spend
Page 13
several hundred dollars in accessories at point-of-purchase and

in the first 12 months after purchase.47 Approximately 20% of
owners of the modern sporting rifle have four or more
accessories on their firearm and only 16% are operated out of
the box with no accessories.48
This rifle platform design also means that owners of the
polymer rifle could have come into compliance with assault
weapons restriction simply by changing parts, retaining their
rifles, and not having any registration requirement.
Everything about the modern, polymer rifle contributes to the
requirement of registration as a state-labeled assault weapon
and easy conversion away from an assault weapon. The
very design of the modern sporting rifle of polymer
composition readily contributes to the inability to quantify the
number of assault weapons on a given registration deadline.
In short, an analysis cannot be performed on whether
registration enhances public safety without a computational
reference point for the raw number of assault weapons
manufactured or in civilian ownership, but that computational
reference point does not exist.
Page 14
3. THE LEGAL FICTION OF THE ASSAULT WEAPON

Another problem with the assault weapons registry analysis
is the lack of meaning of the words assault weapon. First,
the three state statutes from 2013 and the one federal statute
from 1994 differ from one to the next, offering no uniform
definition of assault weapon. Second, firearms
manufacturers are not required to report production data that
dovetails to statutory assault weapons definitions, even
though it has other, federal reporting requirements.
What does that make the assault weapon?
The assault weapon is a legal fiction.
There is no such product created by a firearms
manufacturer. There is such a thing as a rifle, a shotgun,
and a handgun, but there is no such firearm type called an
assault weapon. The assault weapon is a label made up
by someone in government like Governor Cuomo to demonize
a random selection of firearms to try to push them out of the
stream of lawful commerce on the public relations claim that
there will be a corresponding reduction in crime involving
firearms. An assault weapons ban and an assault weapons
registry derive from the same school of political PR as The
Page 15
Affordable Care Act, The Patriot Act, No Child Left

Behind, and Common Core.
The term assault weapon was created by Congress in
1994 when it enacted the Assault Weapons Ban (hereafter,
1994 AWB).49 The statute contained a 10-year sunset
clause and was automatically repealed in 2004.50 The statute
represented the first use of the word assault weapon in a
statutory context. It also represented the beginning of the
manipulation of the firearm as a consumer product for selfdefense, sport, and collection to the firearm as an assault
weapon used for mass murder.
The 1994 AWB statute used basic firearm definitions from
the 1968 Gun Control Act51 for the semiautomatic rifle,
semiautomatic pistol, and semiautomatic revolver.52
These definitions are laid out below. The 1994 AWB then
departed from the 1968 GCA federal firearms definitions to
pivot around a list of features, any two or more of which on
a given firearm, rendered the firearm an illegal assault
weapon.53 The essential formula of the 1994 AWB was
semi-automatic firearm by type + detachable magazine + 2 or
more enumerated features = assault weapon.54 The various
enumerated features included, for example, the folding or
Page 16
telescoping stock,55 the pistol grip that protrudes

conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon,56 the bayonet
mount,57 and the flash suppressor or threaded barrel designed
to accommodate a flash suppressor58.
The 1994 AWB did not include a registration requirement.
It included a grandfather provision for such firearms already
owned by consumers.59
At the state level in 2013, New York, Connecticut, and
Maryland enacted assault weapons bans. Connecticut, like
New York, required registration of such assault weapons.
Neither state offered a grandfather provision. The Maryland
statute did not include a registry.
The current (2013) assault weapons provision under New
York law has its origins in the former (year 2000) version of
NY Penal Law 265.00(22), which mimicked the federal 1994
AWB two-feature test. In 2013, New York amended NY
Penal Law 265.00(22) to become a one-feature test.
The three states did not adopt verbatim the 1994 AWB
language. Each state wrote its own definition of assault
weapon. The four definitions do not match. There is
apparently no consensus even among those supporting gun
Page 17
control legislation as to what statutory structure and/or

firearm configuration they consider so inherently dangerous as
to warrant a ban.60
State legislation from 2013 has not been adopted by the
federal government in any amendments to forms, reporting
requirements, or analytics with the one exception of the
reporting of private sale background checks run in the states of
New York and Maryland.61, 62 Even when the 1994 AWB was
live, no amendments were made to synchronize federal
compliance reporting forms during that 10-year period.
The term assault weapon is a legal fiction, created by
certain elected officials, but not correlated to industry design,
production, and commerce. Post-2013, several manufacturers
created new polymer rifle designs dubbed state compliant
firearms,63 but the converse is not true. A firearm does not
begin its product life cycle as an assault weapon.
Manufacturers are, however, trying to meet state restrictions
by now designing and marketing e.g., the New York
complaint firearm, predominantly in variations of the
polymer rifle type.
Page 18
4. WHAT IS A FIREARM -BY INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND FEDERAL LAW?

The assertion that the assault weapon is a legal fiction
begins with a reflection upon the linguistic harmony between
the firearms industry and the federal government. Through
the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA)64 and its associated
regulations, the federal government adopted a vocabulary
consistent with the manufactured product known as the
firearm. When the ATF and the industry speak to each
other, they speak the same language.65
The term firearm is the correct term for comprehensive
reference. It is the umbrella term and it is technical in nature.
As set forth in the GCA, the term firearm66 means:
(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or
is designed to or may be readily converted to
expel a projectile by the action of an explosive;
(B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon;
(C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or,
(D) any destructive device.
This definition expressly excludes an antique firearm,67
elsewhere defined by federal law.
The 1968 Gun Control Act and its accompanying
regulations also include specific definitions for types of
Page 19
firearms, including shotgun, rifle, handgun, shortbarreled shotgun, short-barreled rifle, semiautomatic
rifle. The shotgun, rifle, and handgun are the three primary
types of firearms manufactured and sold for the civilian
market in the United States.
These ten, core definitions are an essential firearms
vocabulary to learn and understand. The definitions are a
technical reflection of the products of the firearms industry,
from the barrel length of a short-barreled shotgun, to the
separate pull of the trigger to operate the semi-automatic rifle.
These words communicate the mechanics and specifications of
the types of firearms manufactured and sold in the civilian
market in the United States.68
All federal government reporting requirements by
manufacturer and/or other Federal Firearms Licensee use this
one set of firearms terminology. Data is reported by
manufacturers to the ATF, analyzed, and put into the public
domain using this set of vocabulary. From the number of
firearms manufactured to the number of firearms used in
violent crime, the federal definitions from the GCA are the
firearms terminology in use.
Page 20
Ten Core Firearms Definitions:

Shotgun means a weapon designed or redesigned,
made or remade, and intended to be fired from the
shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or
remade to use the energy of an explosive to fire through
a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single
projectile for each single pull of the trigger.69
Rifle means a weapon designed or redesigned, made
or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder
and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use
the energy of an explosive to fire only a single projectile
through a rifled bore for each single pull of the
trigger.70
Handgun means (A) a firearm which has a short stock
and is designed to be held and fired by the use of a
single hand; and (B) any combination of parts from
which a firearm described in subparagraph (A) can be
assembled.71
Pistol means a weapon originally designed, made,
and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or
more barrels when held in one hand and having (a) a
chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently
aligned with, the bore(s); and (b) a short stock designed
to be gripped by one hand and at an angle to and
extending below the line of the bore(s).72
Revolver means a projectile weapon, of the pistol
type, having a breechloading chambered cylinder so
arranged that the cocking of the hammer or movement
Page 21
of the trigger rotates it and brings the next cartridge in

line with the barrel for firing.73
Short-barreled shotgun means a shotgun having one
or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and
any weapon made from a shotgun (whether by
alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such weapon as
modified has an overall length of less than twenty-six
inches.74
Short-barreled rifle means a rifle having one or more
barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any
weapon made from a rifle (whether by alternation,
modification, or otherwise) if such weapon, as modified,
has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.75
Semiautomatic rifle means any repeating rifle which
utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to
extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next
round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger
to fire each cartridge.76, 77
Semiautomatic pistol means any repeating pistol
which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge
to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next
round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger
to fire each cartridge.78
Semiautomatic shotgun means any repeating
shotgun which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing
cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber
the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the
trigger to fire each cartridge.79
Page 22
5. THE NUMBERS OF FIREARMS MANUFACTURED

The firearm is the only consumer product protected by the
U.S. Constitution. From 1986 to 2011, more than 100,000,000
firearms were manufactured in the U.S. for the civilian
market.80 Not one of them were produced under the heading
assault weapon.
From 1986-2010, there were 2,288 domestic, registered
firearms manufacturers.81 More than 40% of domestic
firearms production during this period originated with three
companies: Sturm, Ruger & Co. (15.3 million firearms),
Remington (14.2 million firearms), and Smith & Wesson (10.5
million firearms).82 Remington was founded in 1816.83 Smith
& Wesson formed their partnership in 185284 and it went
public to trade on NASDAQ in 200185 And, Sturm, Ruger &
Co. opened for business in 1949 and rose to be publicly traded
on NYSE in 1990.86 These three, leading firearms
manufacturers are both a part of American history and a part
of national and international commerce.
The firearms industry is highly regulated, including annual
reporting requirements of manufacturers of firearms produced
and put into the stream of commerce for the civilian market.
Manufacturing compliance begins with the registration of
Page 23
every manufacturer with the ATF as a Federal Firearms

Licensee.87 No person may engage in the business of
importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms until s/he has
filed an application with and received a license to do so.88
Once a manufacturer is licensed, the manufacturer is a
Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) which triggers the
annual firearms production reporting requirement.
The primary statistic regarding domestic firearms
production is taken from ATF Form 5300.11, the Annual
Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report
(AFMER).89 Every year, every FFL manufacturer is
required to report to the ATF the number of firearms
produced, by type, caliber. The data is compiled by the ATF
and released on a one-year lag to reflect trade secret protection
through the Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export
Reports.90, 91
The ATF Form 5300.1192 has been in use since 1986. It
excludes production for military. It includes firearms
manufactured for law enforcement.93 Both the aggregate and
the individual manufacturer reporting are published.94
The most recent report is for year 2013 and it reflects total
production by all firearms manufacturers in the United States
Page 24
at 10,844,79295 firearms, broken down by type as follows:
Pistols 4,441,726 (41% of total production)
Rifles 3,979,570 (37% of total production)
Shotguns 1,203,072 (11% of total production)
Revolvers 725,282 (7% of total production)
Miscellaneous firearms 495,142 (4% of total

production)96
Domestic firearms production essentially doubled during

the five-year period of 2009-2013:
2013 10,844,79297
2012 8,578,61098
2011 6,541,88699
2010 5,459,250100
2009 5,555,818.101
The most recent AFMER 2013 report also provides the
firearms manufacturing statistics by Federal Firearms
Licensee and location within each state. Roughly one-tenth of
total domestic production of firearms occurs in New York.
Relative to total production in New York during calendar year
2013 of 931,991 firearms manufactured, please review the
information provided in Table 1: New York Firearms
Production 2013, below.
Page 25
Table 1: New York FFL Firearms Manufacturing 2013

Federal Firearms
Licensee
Allstar Tactical
American Tactical
Imports
AX Tactical
Bristol, Christopher
Cirello, Armand R.
Coating
Technology
CZ-USA
Dale, Ryan J.
Drake Associates
Eddy, Matthew
EPP Team
Fauci, Brian M.
Fermer Precision
Hayes, Charles C.
Just Right Carbines
Kimber
Manufacturing
LRB of Long Island
Maney, Michael T.
Oriskany Arms
PPI
PRZ Technologies
Remington Arms
Company
Reynolds, Diane
Serva, Robert W.
Swank, Scott E.
Tamol, Thomas P.
Pistols
Revolver
s
Rifles
Shotguns
1,417
892
4,581
2
3
48
9,313
3,724
4,979
8
146,832
64,260
39
Misc.
60
11,577
471
32
5
4
782
3
12,610
3,898
8,408
28
2
43
190,530
4
4
2
457,359
6,530
Page 26
The Gun Locker

Turnbull
Manufacturing
XLI Corporation
TOTAL NY FFL
Production
218
28
1
104
378
220,068
32
233,270
468,936
9,685
What we can say about the production during 2013 in New

York of 931,991 firearms? A total of 29 manufacturers
produced firearms, as follows:
2 manufacturers produced 468,936 shotguns

(50% of statewide total production)
22 manufacturers produced 233,270 rifles

9 manufacturers produced 220,068 pistols

6 manufacturers produced 9,685 miscellaneous

firearms (1% of statewide total production)
2 manufacturers produced 32 revolvers (less than

1% of statewide total production)
(Note: Rounding means total percentages equal 101%.)

It is tempting to look at the AFMER 2013 statistics and
say that no assault weapons were manufactured in New
York. However, that is not a statement that can be made. The
definition of an assault weapon, as an act of the state
Page 27
government, bears no relationship either to federal firearms

compliance law or to federal reporting requirements. There is
no available data set of, for example, the number of rifles
produced with one or more features that would make it an
illegal firearm in New York, such as a rifle with a detachable
magazine plus a telescoping stock with a thumbhole.
The point is simply that neither the federal government nor
anyone else knows how many firearms in domestic production
in a given year are configured in such a way as to
coincidentally be that which is described as an assault
weapon by a statute in New York or otherwise. While
federal reporting requirements demand a manufacturer must
file ATF Form 5300.11 even if not a single firearm is
produced, it does not require the kinds of detailed information
about features and characteristics of the firearm that would be
necessary to quantify the number of assault weapons
produced, whether by New York or other statutory definition.
6. THE NUMBER OF BACKGROUND CHECKS

One additional number that might get us closer to a
quantification of assault weapons is the number of
background checks run by the ATF, but it offers only a limited
Page 28
insight into firearms commerce by type of firearm. The

background check is conducted using ATF Form 4473,
Firearms Transaction Record, which, relative to firearm
purchase information, asks for the manufacturer, model, and
caliber.102 This form, like the AFMER form, does not ask
questions about firearms features.
Every Federal Firearms Licensee dealer must run a
background check on every customer prior to completion of
the sale and delivery of a firearm.103 The FFL dealer must
maintain such records for 20 years.104 In addition, the FFL
dealer must maintain a permanent, bound book of acquisitions
and dispositions.105 The FFL dealer is subjected to a
compliance inspection and audit by the ATF on an annual
basis.106 When the FFL dealer ceases operations, s/he must
transfer all required records to the ATF records repository.107
The ATF releases on a monthly basis the number of
background checks run.108 This figure may exceed sales
completed in a given month because a certain percentage of
customers fail the background check and are denied the
purchase of the firearm, due to a federal disqualifying event.109
Attempted illegal purchases at a dealer by, e.g., felons and
fugitives from justice, represent only a small fraction of the
failed background checks.110
20,968,547
21,093,273
19,592,303
16,454,951
14,409,616
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
National
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Total
241,495
271,837
338,619
353,064
365,427
New York
1.7%
1.7%
1.7%
1.7%
1.7%
179,595
186,068
237,496
294,338
270,297
CT
1.2%
1.1%
1.2%
1.4%
1.3%
Table 2: NICS Background Checks (2010 2014)

National, NY, CT, and MD
88,162
103,020
136,604
231,182
142,207
MD
0.6%
0.6%
0.7%
1.0%
0.7%

Page 29
Page 30
Table 2 captures a five-year overview of the annual

number of background checks run on a national basis111, 112, 113,
114, 115, 116
with a breakout for the annual numbers of
background checks run for New York, Connecticut, and

Maryland. The year-to-date statistics as of August 2015
indicate background checks of 13,812,485 on a national basis,
of which 199,626 (1.4%) took place in New York, 198,946
(1.4%) in Connecticut, and 73,655 (0.5%) in Maryland.117
These figures, annualized, are consistent with the 2010
through 2014 background checks statistics.
Background checks in New York represent only a small
percentage (1.7%) of national background checks. New York
is ranked 22nd among the 50 states for NICS background
checks. The background checks in New York, Connecticut,
and Maryland are, bluntly, uninteresting data relative to
national sales. While manufacturers in New York and
Connecticut may account for a respectable proportion of total
domestic firearms production, these companies have limited
markets in their home states.
It is a stretch, but, a valid question, nonetheless to ask:
would it be possible to use the ATF Form 4473 data to
compile an analysis of assault weapons by pulling the
patents for all firearms listed? Possibly, but, it would be an
Page 31
incredibly time-consuming endeavor. The bigger problem

would be gaining access to the background check data.
Completed copies of the ATF Form 4473 are not available to
anyone outside the ATF, excepting responses to requests for
information on a specific firearm from federal, state, or local
law enforcement agencies when relevant to the identification
of persons prohibited from purchasing or receiving firearms or
ammunition who have purchased or received firearms or
ammunition.118 It is prohibited for any other office or agency
to access this information.119 Even so, it wouldnt reach a true
assault weapons total because it would not include aftermarket modifications. The average gun owner of the modern
polymer rifle is likely to accessorize it.
7. FIREARMS REGISTRATION BY POPULATION.

With that in mind, the final number for us to consider is
firearms registration by population. One way to put it is that
the total number of assault weapons registered in New York
is less than the total number of assault weapons registered in
Connecticut, even though the population of New York is five
times higher than that of Connecticut. What this data suggests
is not the number of assault weapons, but, rather, the
presence of substantial civil disobedience in New York.
Page 32
The population of New York is 19,746,227,120 of which

roughly 15.4 million (78%) are over 18 years of age.
Remember that earlier statistic: in New York 23,344 persons
registered assault weapons. The number of persons
registering an assault weapon represents a mere 0.2% of
persons over the age of 18 years, or, less than one half of one
percent of persons by age.
By contrast, the population of the State of Connecticut is
only 3,596,677121 and, yet, it reported 25,640 individuals
registered assault weapons. Likewise, 78% of the
population of Connecticut is over the age of 18 years. The
Connecticut figures reflect that a mere 0.9% of its population
over the age of 18 years chose to register an assault weapon.
What can we say using CT-to-NY registry statistics? On
the basis of Connecticut, one would have expected
138,618 persons to register assault weapons in New York.
Instead, only 23,344 individuals registered assault weapons
in New York, a mere 17% of those expected to register in New
York, based upon Connecticut registration figures, even
though New Yorks population is five times as high as
Connecticut.
Page 33
Spun in one more configuration, if we look at the registry

statistics as a percentage of the NSSF-estimated assault
weapons owners, we arrive at a slightly different statistic. In
New York, of the NSSF-estimated 1 million assault
weapons owners, only 2% became registered owners. In
Connecticut, of the 350,000 NSSF-estimated assault
weapons owners, only 7% became registered owners.
No matter how you process the available numbers, from
population to NSSF-estimated ownership, the percentage of
persons registering assault weapons was a flat line of
noncompliance.
8. A MEASURABLE POLICY FAILURE

What is measurable about the assault weapons registry is
that it is another policy failure of Governor Cuomo. Any
policy scheme that requires people to take affirmative action
prior to a deadline or face criminal penalties requires a very
high, voluntary compliance rate. It also requires that those
who chose compliance make affirmative efforts to gain the
buy-in of those who exhibit mild to moderate resistance, using
techniques such as leadership by example, education of
penalties, and shunning of non-conformists. This law
achieved exactly the opposite of standard policy goals.
Page 34
Registry statistics relative to state population and the

registry statistics compared between New York and
Connecticut reflect profound resistance to the registration of
firearms. While there is no way to measure the true number of
owners of assault weapons as of a registration deadline,
there is a high degree of probability that the majority of
assault weapons owners did not register their firearms. The
assault weapons registry morphed an entire segment of the
population of law-abiding gun owners into overt oppositionists
to governmental authority and at risk of criminal charges.
All of the efforts at quantification aside, the true metric for
may be the rallying cry that went up around New York prior to
the registration deadline. As just one example in New York,
widespread civil disobedience against registration included the
public burning of 1,000 of the registration forms.122 This is
but one example of the public resistance triggered by
Governor Cuomos assault weapons registry, its registration
deadline, and the looming criminal penalties. This voice and
this demonstration of resistance reflects the values of civil
liberties, whether the individual owns an unregistered assault
weapon or not. Ironically, the opposition head count may
overstate the assault weapons ownership figure as readily as
the NYS Police registration statistics understate it.
Page 35
Ultimately, the only usefulness for assault weapons

registry statistics may the confirmation that New York gun
owners are highly resistant to registration of firearms as a
requirement set by Governor Cuomo through legislation
passed in the dead of night without advance publication or
public comment.
CONCLUSION.
The concept of an assault weapons registry is a flawed
policy initiative. There is no method through which one can
ever quantify how many assault weapons are manufactured,
owned by individuals, or misused by criminals. There is no
basis for a claim by any public official that an assault
weapons registry will reduce crime. No public official not
even Governor Cuomo can make a valid assertion that an
assault weapons registry enhances public safety.
The stream of firearms commerce is already regulated at
the federal level from licensing of the manufacturer and
dealer, to the serializing of the firearm, to the book of
acquisitions and dispositions, to the background check, to the
mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms, to gun tracing
for law enforcement, and more. At the state level, the
handgun is already heavily regulated, including separate
Page 36
individual licensing requirements with extensive background

checks and the registration of each and every handgun owned.
There is no way to measure the use of assault weapons in
the criminal context, whether in absolute numbers or as a
percentage of all firearms misused. The criminal does not
register an illegal firearm, does not have a handgun license or
a registered handgun, and does not go to an FFL dealer to fill
out ATF Form 4473 for a background check at the time of
purchase. The criminal is engaged in illegal, interstate
trafficking of firearms and, in the rare instance the criminal
misuses a long gun, it has been mutilated beyond
manufacturer compliance requirements.
There was no rational basis for Governor Cuomo or other
public official to assert that the registration of assault
weapons contributes to public safety. Instead, in 2013, the
assault weapons registry became the rallying cry of
statewide civil disobedience by law-abiding gun owners. This
direct result of the assault weapons registry is in opposition
to the superior policy objective that a law should inspire
respect and compliance.
The assault weapons registry of Governor Cuomo is both
a farce and a failure of public policy.
Page 37
ENDNOTES
1
Weaver, Teri, Governor Cuomo Signs NY Safe Act in Rochester,

YouTube video posted by NYGovCuomo (August 23, 2014 upload,
January 16, 2013 taping); accessed 09/14/2015 at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImdI7UcitaE.
2
New York State website, Governor Cuomo Signs NY Safe Act in

Rochester, (January 16, 2013); accessed on 09/14/2015 at
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-ny-safe-actrochester.
3
NYS Senate Bill 2230-2013, Memorandum, page 1.
Capanna, Paloma A., The Long Road to the SAFE Act: How Did Cuomo
Do It So Fast? Second Amendment Coalition, White Paper Series 2014
(December 2014), p. 13.
Id., pp. 8-9.
Davis, Jeff, Gun registry: Conservatives and enthusiasts cheer the end of
database, National Post (February 15, 2012); accessed 09/14/2015 at
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/conservatives-andenthusiasts-cheer-the-end-of-the-long-gun-registry.
7
Government quietly confirms that gun registry data has been

destroyed, The Glob and Mail (November 1, 2012); accessed on
09/14/2015 at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/government-quietlyconfirms-that-gun-registry-data-has-been-destroyed/article4840093/.
8
The gun registry debate: Implementing the Firearms Act, CBC News
Canada (October 9, 2009); accessed on 09/14/2015 at
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/timeline-the-gun-registry-debate1.786548.
9
Id.
10
NYS Senate Bill 2230-2013, supra, S58(d), p. 39.
Page 38
11
NY Penal Law 265.00(22)(H).
12
NY Penal Law 265.00(22).
13
New York Penal Law 265.00(22), the assault weapon provision, is,
additionally, part of a pending lawsuit in federal court, New York State
Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Cuomo, challenging its constitutional
validity. On PACER: CAF #14-0036-cv. By contrast, in this White Paper,
we analyze its value as a public policy, claimed by Governor Cuomo to
enhance public safety.
14
Judgment (McNamara, J., April 30, 2015), Supreme Court, Albany

County, Index No. 5118-14.
15
Correspondence of Lieutenant Debra L. Benziger (dated June 22, 2015)

with enclosure of statistics as of June 16, 2015, pp. 1, 3.
16
Id., p. 4.
17
There is no New York exemption from registration requirements for

those firearms personally owned by law enforcement personnel. There is
no coregistration permitted in New York of an assault weapon.
18
The statistics provided categorized the firearm type as pistol, in spite

of its more restrictive industry and federal government definition. The
term better to have used would have been handgun; a pistol is a
subset of this type.
Correspondence from NYS Police Lieutenant Debra L. Benziger, supra,
p. 3.
19
20
Connecticut General Assembly Bill No. 1160 (2013), signed into law
April 4, 2013, short reference An Act Concerning Gun Violence
Prevention and Childrens Safety. Provision as cited, Section 53-202d of
the General Statutes of Connecticut; Bill page 47.
21
Although the state of Maryland included an assault weapons ban in

its 2013 legislation, it did not include the requirement of an assault
weapons registry. Maryland Senate Bill No. 281 (2013), signed into law
May 16, 2013, short reference Firearm Safety Act of 2013.
Page 39
22
Correspondence from Reuben F. Bradford, Commissioner, State of

Connecticut, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
(dated October 11, 2013) to David A. Clough, Esq., available with
corresponding inquiry letter on the Internet, accessed 09/14/2015, at
http://ccdl.us/blog/tag/department-of-emergency-services-and-publicprotection/.
23
Correspondence from Sgt. Alex Giannone, Esq., Legal Affairs Unit, State
of Connecticut, Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
(dated July 14, 2015), with enclosure of single sheet typewritten response
and four-page Excel chart by caliber. Correspondence received in
response to Freedom of Information Request of Bill Robinson (dated
February 1, 2014).
24
For purposes of this White Paper, the term law-abiding gun owner is
intended to mean a U.S. Citizen who is not disqualified under federal or
state law from ownership, possession, and transfer of a firearm, who has
purchased the firearm from a licensed dealer after completion of a
background check or through, where permitted, the secondary market,
including by gift or inheritance. The law-abiding gun owner is someone
already in compliance with rigorous federal and various statutes, including
that s/he owns a serialized firearm produced by a licensed manufacturer
or has built and registered his/her own firearm with the ATF.
25
Miniter, Frank, As Many as One Million Armed New Yorkers Are About
to Break the Law, Forbes, April 13, 2014 blog; accessed 09/14/2015 at
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankminiter/2014/04/13/as-many-as-onemillion-armed-new-yorkers-are-about-to-break-the-law/.
26
FBI website, NCIC files; accessed 09/14/2015 at

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ncic/ncic_files.
27
ATF website, National Tracing Center; accessed 09/14/2015 at

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/national-tracing-center.
28
FBI website, Crime in the United States 2013, Table 4; accessed

09/14/2015 at https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-theu.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-
Page 40
2013/tables/4tabledatadecoverviewpdf/table_4_crime_in_the_united_st
ates_by_region_geographic_division_and_state_2012-2013.xls.
29
Id.
30
Id., Table 20.
31
Id.
Id. Remaining weapon use was knives (136) and other, including
fists (113).
32
Correspondence from NYS Police Lieutenant Debra L. Benziger, supra,

p. 3.
33
34
See, generally, NY Penal Law Art. 400. Licensing is conducted at the

county level, such that each respective county should be reviewed for its
specific procedures and requirements.
35
Department of Justice, ATF New York, Chart 7, Top 15 Source States for
Firearms with a New York Recovery (January 1, 2013 December 31,
2013); accessed 09/14/2015 at https://www.atf.gov/file/3086/download.
36
Id., p. 3.
37
Id., p. 4.
38
Id., p. 10.
39
18 U.S.C. 923(i); 27 CFR 478.92; 27 CFR 479.102; 27 CFR 5842.

N.B.: separate engraving requirements apply to imported firearms.
40
Even an individual who is a hobbyist and not engaged in the commerce

of firearms must apply to make and register the firearm with the ATF,
including that a firearm must bear a serial number and other marks of
identification; see, 27 CFR 479.62.
41
27 CFR 478.124.
42
Fox, supra, p. 137.
43
27 CFR 478.34; 27 CFR 5861.
44
Page 41
18 U.S.C. 922(k).
45
Greenfeld, Lawrence A. and Zawitz, Marianne W., Weapons Offenses

and Offenders, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics
(November 1995).
46
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Modern Sporting Rifle, 2010,

pp. 19-20; accessed 09/14/2015 at
http://www.nssf.org/research/researchreports.cfm.
47
Id., pp. 26-27.
48
Id., p. 25.
49
Pub.L. 103-322, short title, Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994, Title XI Firearms, Subtitle A short title Assault Weapons.
Citation to 18 U.S.C. 921(30), expired as of September 13, 2004.
50
H.R. 3355-205 (1994), Sec. 110105(2).
51
Pub.L. 90-618, short title Gun Control Act of 1968. The definition of
semiautomatic rifle was amended in 1990, Pub.L. 101-647, short title
Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, 2204(a).
52
18 U.S.C. 921(30)(B), (C), and (D), expired as of September 13, 2004.
53
Id.
54
18 U.S.C. 921(30)(B) (D).
55
18 U.S.C. 922(B)(i) and (D)(i).
56
18 U.S.C. 922(B)(ii) and (D)(ii).
57
18 U.S.C. 922(B)(iii) and (D)(iii).
58
18 U.S.C. 922(B)(iv) and (C)(iii).
59
18 U.S.C. 922(v)(2).
60
There is also apparently no consensus as to those manufacturers which

are such bad actors that no firearm in their product line should be
Page 42
permitted to be sold. The Connecticut statute mimicked the A list of the

1994 AWB in that it included a list of manufacturers and models as part of
the statute. Connecticut General Statutes 25(a)(1)(A)(i). New York
instead had the NYS Police publish on line a series of pamphlets. The
pamphlets can be accessed at
http://programs.governor.ny.gov/nysafeact/gun-owners.
61
Total NICS Firearm Background Checks, revision made as of August

2013 monthly reporting period.
62
Connecticut does not require a background check for the private sales.
63
See, for example, Black Rain Ordinance on the Internet at

http://blackrainordnance.com/newsletter-april-2014-new-yorkcompliant-ar15-ar10-rifles/, Just Right Carbines on the Internet at
http://www.justrightcarbines.com/JR_Carbine_Products.php, and Stag
Arms on the Internet at https://www.stagarms.com/post-baninformation/. Other manufacturers promote polymer rifles that are MD,
CT, MA, or CA complaint, but do not offer a NY compliant product. See,
for example, Sig Sauer on the Internet at
http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductList/state-compliant-productsma-nj-ny-compliant-rifles.aspx and Smith & Wesson on the Internet at
http://www.smithwesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_77
2659_-1_757784_757784_image.
64
While the federal statute is the Gun Control Act, the word gun was
not defined, nor was it used therein. The statute would more
appropriately have been titled The Firearms Industry Regulation and
Criminal Restrictions Act.
65
27 CFR 478.21; 27 CFR 478.23.
66
18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3)(A)-(D); see also accompanying regulation at 27 CFR

478.11. Another definition is provided under the National Firearms Act at
26 U.S.C. 5845 and its accompanying regulations at 27 CFR 479.11.
67
18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16).
Page 43
68
It is, however, important to emphasize that, generally, state statutory

language is not harmonious to either federal law or industry language.
Shotgun: 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(5); see also the accompanying regulation at

27 CFR 478.11 with a distinction in language of to use the energy of the
explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge (emphasis added). See also the
NFA term at 26 U.S.C. 5845(d) with a distinction of language of to use
the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell (emphasis added)
and the distinction of language of and shall include any such weapon
which may be readily restored to fire a fixed shotgun shell, along with
the accompanying regulations at 27 CFR 479.11.
69
Rifle: 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(7); see also the accompanying regulation at

27 CFR 478.11 with a distinction in language of to use the energy of the
explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge (emphasis added). See also the
NFA term at 26 U.S.C. 5845(c) with a distinction in language of and
shall include any such weapon which may be readily restored to fire a
fixed cartridge and its accompanying regulations at 27 CFR 479.11.
70
Handgun: 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(29); see also the accompanying regulation

at 27 CFR 478.11.
71
Pistol: 27 CFR 278.11 (there is no GCA statutory provision for the

pistol); see also the NFA accompanying regulations at 27 CFR 479.11.
72
Revolver: 27 CFR 278.11 (there is no GCA statutory provision for the

revolver); see also the NFA accompanying regulations at 27 CFR
479.11.
73
74
18 U.S.C. 921(a)(6); see also the accompanying regulation at 27 CFR

478.11.
75

478.11.
76

478.11.
77
A reminder is inserted here that a semiautomatic rifle is not a

machine gun. The term machine gun is defined in the regulations
Page 44
associated with the 1968 GCA as any weapon which shoots, is designed
to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one
shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. The
term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such weapon, any part
designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts
designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machine
gun, and any combination of parts from which a machine gun can be
assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a
person. 27 CFR 478.11; see also NFA definition at 26 U.S.C. 5845(b)
and its accompanying definition at 27 CFR 479.11.
Semiautomatic pistol: 27 CFR 278.11 (there is no GCA statutory
provision for the semiautomatic pistol).
78
Semiautomatic shotgun: 27 CFR 278.11 (there is no GCA statutory

provision for the semiautomatic shotgun).
79
80
Surpassing the 100 Million Mark, Orchid Advisors blog (dated

February 26, 2014); accessed 09/14/2015 at
http://orchidadvisors.com/blog/2014/2/26/Surpassing-the-100-MillionMark.
81
Brauer, supra, p. 19.
82
Brauer, Jurgen, The US Firearms Industry: Production and Supply,

Small Arms Survey, Working Paper (Geneva, Switzerland, 2013), p. 35;
accessed 09/14/2015 at http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/aboutus/highlights/highlight-wp14.html.
83
Remington website, Company History; accessed 09/14/2015 at

http://www.remington.com/pages/our-company/company-history.aspx.
84
Smith & Wesson website, Smith & Wesson History; accessed

09/14/2015 at https://www.smithwesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Category4_750001_750051_75
7941_-1_757938_757812_image.
85
Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. website, Investor FAQs; accessed

9/14/2015 at http://ir.smithwesson.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=90977&p=irol-faq.
Page 45
86
Ruger website, Ruger History; accessed 09/14/2015 at

http://www.ruger.com/corporate/history.html.
87
18 U.S.C. 923; see also accompanying regulations at 27 CFR 478.41,

et seq.
88
18 U.S.C. 923(a).
89
18 U.S.C. 923(g)(5)(A).
90
The ATF Form 5300.11, Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export

Report, can be found at http://www.nibin.gov/content/index2.
91
Uniform Trade Secrets Act, adopted on a state basis, can be referenced

through the website of the Uniform Law Commission at
http://www.uniformlaws.org/Default.aspx; see also federal Freedom of
Information Law restrictions at 18 U.S.C. 1905 and accompanying
regulations at 45 CFR 5.65.
92
Formerly ATF Form 4483-A, mentioned herein to assist with historic

research.
93
ATF Form 5300.11, supra, page 2.
94
Annual reports of this nature can be obtained on the ATF website at

https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/data-statistics.
95
Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report 2013,

unpaginated; accessed 9/14/2015 at
https://www.atf.gov/file/3341/download. {N.B.: the aggregate statistics
front page is unpaginated. The report then begins Page 1 of 81 on what
is actually the second page of the report. For ease of reference of
manufacturing details, the page referenced herein is as printed on the ATF
final copy.}
96
The miscellaneous firearm is defined at law as any firearms not

included in the above categories, such as frames or receivers, etc. that are
not identified as particular firearms, and the manufacturer is directed to
identify or briefly describe the firearm. ATF Form 5300.11, supra, p. 2.
97
AFMER 2013, supra.
Page 46
98

final copy.}
99

final copy.}
100

final copy.}
101

final copy.}
102
ATF Form 4473, Firearms Transactions Record; accessed 09/14/2015

at https://www.atf.gov/firearms/firearms-forms.
103
27 CFR 478.102 and 27 CFR 478.124.
104
18 U.S.C. 923(g) and 27 CFR 478.129(b).
105
27 CFR 478.125(e).
106
18 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)(B), et seq.
107
18 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)(B)(4) and 27 CFR 478.127.
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accessed 09/14/2015 at https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics.
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18 U.S.C. 922(g).
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ATF website, Federal Denials (November 30, 1998 July 31, 2015);
accessed 09/14/2015 at https://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/cjis/nics/reports/2012-operations-report.
111
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Month/Year (through July 31, 2015), found on page 1 of the main
document; accessed 09/14/2015 at https://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/cjis/nics.
112
State statistics chart NICS Firearm Background Checks: Month/Year

by State (Year 2014), found on page 2 of the main document; accessed
09/14/2015 at https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics.
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114

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116

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through July 31, 2015); accessed 09/14/2015 at
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics.
118
27 CFR 478.25.
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28 CFR 25.6, 25.6, and 25.11.
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09/14/2015 at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36000.html.
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(March 16, 2014); accessed 09/14/2015 at
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The NY Assault Weapons Registry: Another Failed Policy of The Cuomo Administration

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The NY Assault Weapons Registry: Another Failed Policy of The Cuomo Administration

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2nd Amendment Coalition

White Paper Series - 2015

THE NY ASSAULT WEAPONS REGISTRY:

2nd Amendment Coalition

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

2nd Amendment Coalition

Copyright 2015, 2nd Amendment Coalition.

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

1. A BILL UNDER FALSE PRETENSES

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

Memorandum or in any of the Governors speeches. No

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

The reason we know with certainty that there is no research

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

2. NY ASSAULT WEAPONS REGISTRY STATISTICS

The most important thing to note about the definition of the

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

From the time of policy inception in January 2013 to the

42,230 rifles (95% of total assault weapons registered)

1,133 pistols18 (3% of total assault weapons registered)

842 shotguns (2% of total assault weapons registered)19

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

What these figures demonstrate, first and foremost, is that the

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

Connecticut came from the National Shooting Sports

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

In 2013, an estimated 14,196 persons were victims of

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

800 firearms that were already have been registered through a

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

the point of customer sale.41 The serial number is used to

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

crime for an FFL dealer to sell a firearm with an obliterated

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

several hundred dollars in accessories at point-of-purchase and

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

3. THE LEGAL FICTION OF THE ASSAULT WEAPON

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

Affordable Care Act, The Patriot Act, No Child Left

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

telescoping stock,55 the pistol grip that protrudes

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

control legislation as to what statutory structure and/or

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

4. WHAT IS A FIREARM -BY INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND FEDERAL LAW?

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

Ten Core Firearms Definitions:

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

of the trigger rotates it and brings the next cartridge in

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

5. THE NUMBERS OF FIREARMS MANUFACTURED

Another Failed Policy of Cuomo

every manufacturer with the ATF as a Federal Firearms

The NY Assault Weapons Registry:

at 10,844,79295 firearms, broken down by type as follows:

Pistols 4,441,726 (41% of total production)

Rifles 3,979,570 (37% of total production)

Shotguns 1,203,072 (11% of total production)

Revolvers 725,282 (7% of total production)

Miscellaneous firearms 495,142 (4% of total

Domestic firearms production essentially doubled during