ALBANY, N.Y. - It's day two for the website and hotline created to clear up confusion over the recent
passage of the New York SAFE Act, but how well is it working?
The New York State Police have established a hotline: 1-855-LAW-GUNS. The hotline started on Monday and will run for normal business hours Monday through Friday staffed by State Police members.
With 13 investigators and ten phone lines standing by, hundreds of New Yorkers
have already taken advantage of the hotline located in Albany to clear up
confusion over the recent passage of the state's gun law.
The most common question being asked is which guns are classified as an assault
weapon. State Police recommend checking the FAQ section online first, and if
questions still remain, the hotline is there to assist.
"Our goal is to
answer your questions if you have them, and if that takes ten minutes or half an
hour, we'll do that," said New York State Police Assistant Counsel Kevin
Bruen.
The Governor's Office has also established http://www.nysafeact.com/.
On the website, gun owners and licensed dealers will find a list of frequently asked questions that have been compiled and answered by experts on this new law.
There is also a section on what is and is not considered an assault weapon. This includes photos of weapons, banned features, a list of some of the banned weapons, and those firearms that are not considered assault weapons.
While there's little support of the law at many gun shops, the hotline
experience has been pretty positive for Zack's Sports in Round
Lake.
"I've contacted it actually a number of times, and I'll be
contacting it more. And they're trying to clarify the questions. Sometimes
they're not able to answer the questions, and they actually have gotten back to
me," said Zack's Sports owner Kevin Zacharewicz.
Zacharewicz said many
are still apprehensive about the new law and the store remains busy, especially
now that effective dates have been given.
Before, suppliers cut them off
due to worries of possibly breaking the law, but the new communication means
confidence in operation for them as well.
"Now [suppliers] have slowly
opened up, with caution, but they've slowly opened up a lot of the things I can
now sell. So that's great news," said Zacharewicz.
NYSP said while there
are no expectations about what the volume of calls will be like in the coming
days, they're well prepared to handle it and plan to be up and running for as
long as necessary.
"I think the desire here is that people who want to
follow the rules, want to comply with it, we want to make sure they know what
they are," said Bruen.
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