Charges unlikely over lapsed pistol recertifications

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Charges unlikely over lapsed pistol recertifications
‘IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE’
February 2, 2018 By Jacob DeRochie, By Nicholas Graziano, Local, News
http://cortlandstandard.net/2018/02/02/charges-unlikely-over-lapsed-pistol-recertifications/


Doug Moss, of Creekside Firearms, displays a long barrel Smith and Wesson .44 Magnum handgun Thursday at his shop in Homer.  Nick Graziano/contributing photographer

CORTLAND — Fewer than 2,200 of 7,000 pistol owners in Cortland have recertified their permits by Wednesday’s deadline, state records show, but the remaining 4,800 won’t face the felony charge they would otherwise because a backlog of applications would make prosecution difficult, according to state police.

In the latest numbers available to the county, 2,197 people out of about 7,000 have completed recertification under a law enacted in 2013 as part of the state’s SAFE Act. But nearly 300,000 applications statewide have yet to be processed, said state police spokesman Beau Duffy said. “It could take up to a year.”

Until then, state police also don’t plan to take any enforcement action against permit holders who have yet to recertify, Duffy said. “It’s impossible to enforce,” he said.

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