New York Quietly Drops Ammunition Registration Law in Secret, Back Room Deal

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has quietly dropped part the SAFE Act, his landmark anti-gun law, by dropping the background checks and registry for ammunition purchases in the Empire State. But how and why this decision was made has been shrouded in secrecy as the deal was made behind closed doors and New Yorkers are not being told the whole deal.

It is expected that this was a deal with the GOP-led State Senate, but no one exactly knows for sure.

The administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo agreed on Friday to suspend a plan to require background checks on ammunition sales, putting in doubt part of the gun control law that he considers one of his proudest legacies.

The decision, which the administration did not publicize, was the result of an unusual deal the governor’s office reached with the State Senate’s Republican majority. The Senate’s Democratic minority and the speaker of the State Assembly condemned the move.

The background-check system was approved as part of the Safe Act, the set of tough gun control measures that Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, persuaded lawmakers to pass in January 2013, shortly after the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

The act was a signature accomplishment of the governor’s first term, and one that he has frequently spoken of with pride, making the move on Friday particularly surprising.

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