Criminal charges have been filed against 10-guns sellers across the state and right here in Western New York.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said his office filed the charges against those who violated the state's background check requirement for the sale of firearms at gun shows.
"We have been engaged since May in an undercover investigation which we call "Operation Background Bust", said Schneiderman.
Attorney General Schneiderman said undercover investigators from his office attended the gun shows testing the state law that regulates gun sales.
Two of the guns shows took place in Hamburg and Corfu in Genesee County this past Spring. Three local men from Cheektowaga, Alden and Orleans county where among the ten charged.
The Attorney General's office said this investigation exposed a flagrant and dangerous disregard of the law that jeopardizes the public's safety. Schneiderman said it points to a flaw in the state law.
"Very sorry to report that at every gun show they visited undercover investigators, who explicitly stated that they could not pass background checks, were able to obtain firearms," said the Attorney General.
NICS background checks are required for all gun purchases at gun shows throughout the State, as provided by General Business Law §897. A person who fails a NICS background check is ineligible to purchase or possess a gun under federal law:
Persons prohibited under federal law from purchasing or possessing a gun include those who:
• Have been convicted of a felony
• Have been adjudicated a “mental defective” or committed to a mental institution
• Are unlawful users of or addicted to a controlled substance
• Being an alien, are illegally or unlawfully in the U.S.
• Are subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner
• Have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence; or
• Have been dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces
"And we have sent cease and desist orders and subpoenaed the operators of the gun shows not the individuals who should the guns but the folks who operated the gun shows and profited from the sales," said Scheiderman.
Schneiderman says there is a need to immediately strengthen the state’s existing gun show laws to better protect citizens.
Buffalo Council member Darius Pridgen says the illegal sale of firearms at gun shows in this area and across the state are undermining efforts by lawmakers to protect the public.
"Attorney General Schneiderman is fulfilling his promise to keep our communities safer and stronger. The illegal sale of firearms at gun shows in Erie County and across the state are undermining our efforts to protect the public. Making sure these dangerous weapons are not in the wrong hands must be a top priority and I thank the Attorney General for doing just that," said Pridgen.