ALBANY – If you're looking to purchase a firearm in New York, you may have to wait.

A new law went into effect last week extending the waiting period to 30-days on firearm sales requiring a background check.

The law only applies to gun sales where a background check has failed to be completed in the usual three-day period. The law also applies to the transferring of gun ownership.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who approved the measure earlier this year, said the law will save lives and called on the federal government to pass a similar legislation following several mass shootings in recent weeks.

"It is time for the federal government to act and pass universal background checks now. Until we do, these senseless tragedies will only continue," Cuomo said in a statement.

Cuomo, a Democrat, approved several gun-reform measures this past year.

But gun advocates argue the new law only treads on the rights of gun owners and will do little to protect public safety.

"All this is doing is providing a 30-day waiting period for the governor and his minions whose main goal is to defeat the Second Amendment in New York state," Tom King, director of the state's Pistol and Rifle Association, said.

A closer look

The law requires gun dealers to receive a "proceed" order from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) before finalizing a sale.

If no order from NICS is received by a dealer, a 30-day waiting period must pass from the time a background check is requested before a firearm can be delivered.

Most background checks usually take three days, according to a memo attached to the law, but on rare occasions additional time is needed.

"In approximately 8% to 11% of cases, law enforcement requires more time than the three days allotted to conduct accurate background checks," the memo reads.

But the longer waiting period is unnecessary, King said.

NICS is thorough so long as states provide the Federal Bureau of Investigations — which conducts the background investigations into firearm sales — with the information necessary to complete the process, he contended.

"Adding 30-days is not going to do anything. And it certainly has not made the people of New York any safer," he said.

Criticisms

King said New York has failed to address real safety issues concerning New Yorkers.

He pointed to a series of criminal justice reforms approved by lawmakers during the budget process earlier this year of the state doing just the opposite.

Lawmakers ended the state's cash bail system in most cases with the exception of violent crimes, something King said takes power from judges to jail dangerous criminals.

"Talk to any of the judges, they'll tell you they no longer have a way of controlling people that come before them," he said.

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Other laws

The new law is just the latest of a series gun-reform laws signed by Cuomo this year.

The state adopted a Red Flag law allowing family, teachers and friends to file a court petition seeking to remove a firearm from a household earlier this year

And lawmakers also moved to ban bump stocks and 3-D printed guns.

Stricter gun-storage laws were also enacted this year as well, making it a Class A misdemeanor for failing to secure a weapon when a child is present.

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