Today, Erie County Legislators Ed Rath, Joe Lorigo, Kevin Hardwick and John Mills introduced a resolution to the Erie County Legislature asking Governor Cuomo to extend the pistol permit recertification deadline.

As of January 2, 2018, only 21,549 of over 50,000 affected permits had been renewed in Erie County. Because of provisions in the NY SAFE Act, pistol permit holders who received their permit prior to January 15, 2013 must re-certify with the New York State Police by January 31st, 2018. This is the first year this requirement is in place. If residents fail to renew, their license could be revoked and their firearms could be seized.

“Many people are just learning of this requirement now. We shouldn’t be punishing lawful firearm owners. This is a request for an extension so that people have more time to go through the appropriate recertification process. I hope Governor Cuomo will listen to the elected officials and residents from across the state who’ve asked for more time to make sure everyone gets properly recertified,” said Legislator Ed Rath (R-Amherst).

“Because of the volume of permits to be renewed, additional time is needed to allow everyone the opportunity to fulfill this NYS requirement. The residents of Erie County deserve ample time to accomplish this,” stated Legislator John Mills (R-Orchard Park). Erie County Legislators have also organized, with Erie County Clerk Michael Kearns, a series of pistol permit recertification outreaches to help notify residents of this requirement and help them through the process.