New York gunsmiths and machine shop owners are proving the lunacy of their state’s ban on so called “assault rifles” by making them legal without altering the firing power of the weapons one whit.

Enthusiasts of “military style” weapons have long argued that the only things distinguishing them from any other weapon are purely cosmetic — such as a retractable stock and pistol grip. It’s all style. And businesses such as Lackawanna gun shop H&H Firearms are proving it’s so, according to the Albany Times Union.

The Times Union reported:

Prototypes for the new rifles have been on display at gun shops from western New York to the Adirondacks in recent weeks. And now a lawyer representing one shop says he has gotten what amounts to an OK from the state, in the form of a letter from a State Police lawyer confirming that AR-15-style guns should be legal as long as they lack the characteristics prohibited by the law.

“It’s basically an AR-15 without the features,” said James Tresmond, a lawyer who represents H&H Firearms.

“People are chomping at the bit” for the modified rifle, said Justin Reickart, who operates H&H along with his wife.

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Reickart and other shop owners are merely removing the pistol grip, replacing the retractible stock with a fixed one and getting rid of the flash suppressor and bayonet lug. And what do they end up with?

“It looks like a paintball gun,” Reickart joked.

The only “assault rifle” characteristic that’s the least bit scary-sounding is the bayonet lug. But Townhall was unable to find a single crime involving a bayonet in New York in the last 100 years.

When New York lawmakers focused on the weapon rather than the person, all they did was turn legal gun owners into common criminals, SAFE Act opponents said.