I know that the following was proposed earlier this year, just wondering if fellow New York residents on this board know where this stands? Thanks in advance

By Ken Mathison, SCOPE President:

Governor George Pataki has unveiled his 2004-
2005 budget proposals and included in this bill (S6056/
A9556) is legislation that would make pistol licenses
renewable and implement new state fees for renewal.
Here's the detail on the proposed legislation:
Would make all pistol licenses renewable
every 5 years and charge a $100 state fee for renewal.
This fee would be in addition to the $99 dollar
fingerprint fee you pay when you first apply for a pistol
license and any local fees charged for license
application. There are also no limits in the legislation
on what the local agencies can charge for licensing fees.
Also included in this legislation are increased fees for
renewal of dealer and gunsmith licenses to $100
each.
This, in effect,
becomes another unfunded
state mandate since it
provides no funds for the
additional personnel the
counties will require to
administer the program.
The counties will have no
choice but to raise their local fees to recoup the losses.
This legislation also establishes a state fee of
$25 each time you amend your license and again this
is on top of any local fees for amendments. The $25
fee would also apply to duplicate licenses and
processing of transfers between counties. If you are a
collector and purchase, say, 10 guns in a year then you
would pay $250 in amendment fees and if you sell any
of your collection you are looking at $25 each time you
remove a gun from your permit.
At renewal time you will be required to list the
make, model, caliber and serial number of all firearms
you possess. The hitch here is that "firearm" under
the penal law no longer means just handguns and
certain shortened long guns; it now includes any
firearms that fall under the definition of an assault
weapon. Although the intent of the legislation is for
handguns, this little kink opens up another whole can of
worms.
Another danger of this renewable license is
that current law allows the licensing office complete
discretion to limit your license, now this same officer
will have another opportunity every five years to limit
or even deny you your license. In some counties where
it is virtually impossible to get a carry license, a license
holder with a carry permit
granted many years ago
could very well have that
license limited upon
renewal.
Fortunately, this
bill only requires a
background check through
the National Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS); you will not be required to resubmit
fingerprints and go through the long drawn out process
that you go through when you first apply for your
permit.
For those who currently hold pistol licenses,
your license would have to be "certified" prior to
February 1, 2005 under rules to be established by the
State Police and then would be renewable every 5 years
thereafter.
This proposal by Governor Pataki is
discriminatory and racist in nature in that it will make
handgun ownership a rich man's privilege by pricing
handgun ownership out of the reach of the less affluent.
In some counties the cost of a handgun license could
approach $400 at renewal time. The people most
affected by this would be the law-abiding working poor
a constituency that includes a disproportionate number
of minorities, namely Black and Hispanic Americans.
Each of you must let Governor Pataki know
how you feel about this legislation. You must also
call, write, email, or fax your Assemblyman and
Senator and do it weekly not just once. It is essential
that you do this because if they are allowed to get
away with this, how long will it be before they decide
to do it to long guns?
Editors note: There is already proposed legislation in
this session to require rifles and shotguns to be
added the ballistic ID program! A8732 sponsored by
NYS Assemblyman David Koon, who has introduced
quite a few anti-gun bills including one to stop gun
sales at gun shows. In the eyes of the anti-gun
politicians you are more dangerous then convicted
criminals, lists and information on you must be kept
“to protect New Yorkers” Having read the
Constitution and Bill of Rights I don’t recall it
saying about paying the state to keep our rights.
"We're talking about a gigantic increase. It's
just an awful big hit all at once," St. Lawrence
County Clerk Patricia A. Ritchie said
Wednesday commenting on Governor Pataki's
proposal to raise pistol license fees.

Thanks buddy!

May I bother you with asking if the entire pistol license renewal idea was killed along with it?

And thanks again

Hiram Ranger contacted me with the answer......... the entire pistol license assault on us was blocked by our Senate

These assaults on us NY gun owners has been a constant battle for us (more so than one would normally expect). We finally got rid of Democrat Governor Coumo, only to get Republican Governor Pataki (which is basically a Democrat in a Republican suit). I helped get him in because the only man that could beat Coumo at the time was him (one of those "least worst of two evils" choices), but since then I have tried to help remove him by choosing Independent Golisano in the last election. Thanks to Pataki, we now have a NY law that mirrors the just expired Federal AWB. If Pataki would have gotten his way, his aim was to ban all the so called "Assault Weapons", including the post ban versions that were Federally not limited.

It's a nightmare guys! If packing up and moving were a realistic option for me and my family, that's exactly what I would do. Maybe in the next 5 years or so it will become an option for me

Until then, the losing battle against the anti's continues here in the State of NY

Thanks Hiram for answering my questions

I know buddy, I was pissed when they only watered down Pataki's AWB bill, instead of altogether killing it. They make deals at best, but rarely put up a true fight in our name

It just plain ole sucks buddy!