Wednesday marked the deadline for nearly 400,000 New York handgun owners to register with state police as New York begins compiling a comprehensive database of gun owners.
Early reports claim that more than 81,000 people, 20 percent of affected handgun owners in New York, haven't responded to the state's request to comply for pistol permit recertification.
New York State Police spokesman Beau Duffy said state police would not pursue criminal enforcement if pistol permit holders do not recertify by the deadline. But that the law states that failure to re-certify will result in revocation of the permit.
Duffy said a year ago, letters were sent out to more than 370,000 permit holders, and that the majority has submitted for recertification.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has said he wants to make sure that people who can't legally own guns aren’t finding ways of remaining in possession of firearms.
Some Republican state lawmakers had asked for an extension of the deadline, and continue to argue for the law to be changed so that failure to recertify results in a permit suspension, not revocation.
Naturally, there are plenty of concerns on how this $28 million database will be used and how the state will follow up with gun owners who are being asked to re-certify every five years.