Expert: Cuomo's war on gun rights hurts Empire State economy, restricts freedom

New York firearm dealer told Guns & Patriots that the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013 adversely affects business and penalizes law-abiding citizens.

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“The SAFE Act is not saving lives it is killing jobs,” said Anthony Melé, an international firearms dealer and owner of AMI-Global Security, LLC. AGS is a defense trade and manufacturer’s exporter registered with the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Nations.

Restrictions in the law place insurmountable hurdles on the sale and transfer of firearms in New York State, he said. “Fifty-percent of my business has been negatively impacted.”

Melé said his on-line firearm boutique is 50 percent local and 50 percent international. 

Uncertainty concerning the SAFE Act has created panic and timidity in the national market, he said. “There is no on-line merchant who will process a transaction for a firearm or ammunition from a New York State dealer.”

Credit card merchants across the country are refusing to process funds from gun dealers in New York State because of the SAFE Act, he said. “Companies do not want to get involved; they do not want a problem with the law.”

As a result, an on-line shopper will be unable to process a credit card payment at New York-based AGS and will alternatively shop out-of-state, he said. “First I lose the sale then the law puts a cap on how much I can charge for the transfer.”

If a New York gun buyer makes a purchase of a firearm and ammunition out-of-state, the out-of-state dealer must deliver the items to a federally-licensed dealer in New York State who in turn conducts the background check on the purchaser and transfers the product, said Melé.

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Anthony Melé

“As an FFL dealer I am responsible for the transfer and the chain of custody of the firearm and/or ammunition incurring costs and risks,” he said. “I can only charge $10 for the transfer and background check even though my usual fee is $50.  It’s not worth my time, anymore.”

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He went through the necessary licensing and certification process to be a gun dealer two years ago, he said. “Now I will need to increase international sales in order to keep the business afloat.”

Since the passage of the SAFE Act in January, citizens are being unfairly targeted for doing nothing wrong, said the U.S. Army veteran. “We are incrementally being denied our Second Amendment rights as if we are criminals.” 

The law is neither a deterrent nor does it prevent a criminal from obtaining a firearm, said Melé. “A bank robber is not going to abide by the law.”

This law only impacts law-abiding citizens, he said. “It has zero impact on the malfeasant and mal-intended.”

Gun control laws are tyrannical, he said. “In Germany, Hitler prevented German-Jewish citizens from owning firearms by stripping them of their citizenship. It was two years later in 1939 that Hitler began rounding them up. ”

The SAFE Act must be completely repealed, he said. “Every senator and politician who voted for it, supports it or signs their name to it needs to be repealed and voted out-of-office.”

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