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Albany Firearm Safe Storage Law In Effect

The law reduces the risk of unintentional shootings by children who mistake real guns for toys, helps prevent suicides, especially by teens, and also creates a barrier to guns being brought to school. Requiring guns to be locked and safely stored also discourages gun theft, keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

Albany's new firearm safe storage law became effective January 1st. It applies to firearms that are stored in residences, motor vehicles and businesses.  "Anybody who owns a gun needs to recognize, and I think does recognize, there's broad support for this, that they've gotta keep that firearm safe." Mayor Kathy Sheehan is embracing a new city law mandating gun owners lock their weapons and store them safely when firearms are not in their "immediate possession or control," a phrase open to interpretation and circumstance.

"Like whether or not you have a child. But if I'm in my own house and I'm the only one there and I'm an adult, I have control over that house, so that is secure." And Police Chief Brendan Cox adds officers will NOT be going door-to-door to conduct searches.  "So we wanna do this through education. We're not lookin' to do this through enforcement. We're not lookin' to get into people's homes and find out whether or not they're complying. You know this, you know this would be found out through a tragedy, and that's the last thing we want to have happen."

The law was passed in September and became effective on January 1st.

Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, says Massachusetts is the only state in the country with a safe storage law. She sees Albany as the key to setting a national example by establishing a safe-storage law in New York. "We wanted to start with the city of Albany because it is the seat of government. Legislators are now in town again for a six-month session. We know they read the local papers. They're gonna read that this law is now in effect in the city of Albany, and we think that's significant, because Albany joins New York City, Rochester, Buffalo and Westchester County, who already have safe storage laws, and we are working with other communities: Saratoga Springs, Newburgh, Ithaca, Utica, the list goes on, to ensure that they also introduce and pass firearm safe storage laws to protect their citizens."

According to Barrett, over the last five years, 100 guns were reported stolen from Albany residences and vehicles.  Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the storage law is a common sense approach to gun safety. "We hear too many stories of tragedies that occur when guns are left in, uh, y'know where children are playing or where they have access to them. And children are curious. They're just naturally curious. And no parent should worry when they have a child go over to somebody else's house to play, that they might not come home."

The Albany Police Department will distribute firearm locks to gun owners: they're available for pickup  at three police stations: APD Headquarters on 165 Henry Johnson Boulevard, Center Station at 536 Western, and South Station at 126 Arch Street.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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