Disarmed by mistake: New York's new gun law.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - SAFE Act in New York, USA

The SAFE Act, a gun control law hastily passed by the New York legislature in January, includes a provision requiring mental health professionals to report any patient they deem "likely to engage in conduct that will cause serious harm to self or others." That is how David Lewis, a 35-year-old Amherst librarian, was stripped of his guns and his Second Amendment rights in April.

Lewis got his guns back a couple of weeks later, after state police admitted they had provided erroneous information to the county clerk who instructed Lewis to surrender his firearms. But the exact nature of that mistake remains mysterious, suggesting the law is not working as intended.

Under the SAFE Act, gun confiscation is supposed to be the last step in a process that begins with a report from a physician, psychologist, registered nurse, or licensed clinical social worker to a county mental health official. If the official agrees with the clinician's assessment, he or she passes the report on to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), which determines whether the patient holds a firearms license.

If he does have such a license, which is required to buy a handgun legally in New York, the DCJS must notify the local licensing official--in this case, Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs who must...