” New York gun owners who possess firearms classified as assault weapons under a new state law have until the end of Tuesday to register their guns — or face potential criminal charges.

The requirement is part of a provision of New York’s so-called SAFE Act, the package of tighter gun restrictions signed into law in Albany months after the Sandy Hook school massacre. The law broadened the state’s “assault weapons” ban to cover more kinds of semiautomatic weapons.

Gun owners who lawfully possessed guns that are now on the banned list were allowed to keep their weapons, but had to register them with the state police. They were also given the option of selling their guns to a licensed New York dealer or out-of-state buyer by Jan. 15 of this year.

Those who fail to comply could face a misdemeanor charge or — if they were already disqualified from owning a gun because of a prior criminal conviction or other reason — a potential felony.

Some gun owners say they have no intention of obeying the edict, reports the Daily Gazette of Schenectady: