NY State Police Confiscate Gun Shop Records, Spurring Fears of NY SAFE Act Raids

albion gun shop
Albion Gun Shop, Albion, New York

So you say you want a revolution, well, you know

The owner of a New York gun shop says he was given 24 hours to comply with a “request” from the New York State Police to turn over records of all customers who have purchased “bullet button” AR-15 rifles since the passage of the hastily-passed SAFE Act in 2013.

Joseph F. Palumbo, owner of the Albion Gun Shop in Albion, New York, told TheBlaze on Wednesday he had no choice but to turn over roughly 165 customer records last week. Now, both he and his customers are concerned that “door-to-door confiscation” or “warrantless searches” could come next.

An AR-15 with a “bullet button” modification makes it so the rifle’s magazine is not detachable without a special tool. Though the legality of bullet button semi-automatic rifles appears to murky under the SAFE Act’s unclear definition of a “detachable” magazine, Palumbo said he was only recently informed in “vague” terms that the weapons he sold are not compliant under the law.

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I would expect that the NY State Police wouldn’t be so foolish as to attempt confiscation or warrantless raids over the very suspect allegation that bullet button-equipped rifles are illegal under the SAFE Act, especially considering how gun owners in the Empire State might choose to respond to such a needless provocation.

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