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New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico stands to the left of Gov.Andrew Cuomo during a press conference in Syracuse in 2012. Today, D'Amico told state lawmakers state police are not ready to implement background checks on ammunition sales, a part of the NY Safe Act.

(David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Background checks for ammunition sales - required under New York's Safe Act - won't start anytime soon, New York State Police Superintendent Joseph D'Amico told lawmakers in Albany today.

The new gun laws, signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January 2013, require background checks on ammunition sales at point of purchase. State police are still developing a system that won't disrupt sales and still comply with the law.

"We're not ready to do it," D'Amico said. "When we are, we will give ample notice."

The part of the law dealing with ammunition sales has no effective date, D'Amico said today.

So state police are working with vendors and sellers to create a system that is "seamless" for businesses and customers, D'Amico said.

"It can't bring the transaction to a halt," he said during a budget hearing.

For now, it's unclear whether the ammo checks will require dealers to buy extra equipment once a background check is in place. D'Amico said the intention of the law is not to cause extra costs to dealers. But he couldn't say for sure what would happen because the solution doesn't yet exist.

The background checks on ammunition sales are one of the few parts of the act that is not in effect. The other is registration of what the law calls "assault weapons," generally semi-automatic guns that have a detachable magazine and one other specified component added to them. The deadline to register these guns with the state is April 15.

The state police budget includes an extra $3.2 million for non-uniformed staff to implement the guns law. So far, D'Amico said, 19 people have been hired to help with gun registrations, background checks on mental health patients and other information technology costs.

D'Amico also said he's instructed state police not to enforce the seven-bullet maximum in magazines, another part of the gun laws. A federal judge in Western New York struck down this piece of the act in January.

That judge's jurisdiction only includes part of the state, so the ruling only covers that judicial district. Some law enforcement officers, like Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick, have warned that the seven-bullet rule is still in effect in other parts of the state.

But D'Amico has a statewide division, which must enforce laws consistently, he said. For that reason, troopers are not currently enforcing that part of the law, he said.

Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com, 315-470-2274 or on Twitter at @TeriKWeaver.