The State of New York last week passed sweeping new state level legislation that greatly restricts the ability to own or
carry certain firearms in that state. Regrettably, the Governor and the proponents of this legislation, in their haste to
push this law though the State Assembly, failed to take into account the legitimate needs of active and retired law
enforcement officers to defend themselves and the public. NAPO worked with its New York groups, particularly the
NYPD Detectives Endowment Association, while this bill was in the works, in an effort to prevent the new law from
harming police officers, but those efforts unfortunately failed. A question then arises, as to whether or not the federal
Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 926B et seq.) (commonly known as "H.R. 218" from its
original Bill number) provides protection for active and/or retired officers who are in New York State.

It is important to note that the federal law, H.R. 218, DOES provide SOME protection for officers, both active and
retired. This is because the federal law applies "Notwithstanding any other provision of the law of any State or any
political subdivision thereof ..." (18 U.S.C. §926B(a)) HOWEVER, that protection is LIMITED by the terms of the
federal statute, as far as what is covered. Thus , when an officer (active or retired ) carries a firearm pursuant to the
terms ofH.R. 218, the FIREARM itself is protected, (18 U.S.C. §926B(e)(1)) as well as any AMMUNITION not
prohibited by FEDERAL law (18 U.S.c. §926B(e)(2)) So, for example, hollow points are O.K., even ifthe locality
normally prohibits them. BUT the language of H.R. 218 is silent as to MAGAZINES. And thus provides no
protection under federal law for state or local officers or deputies who wish to rely on it to overcome regulations
like the new New York law which prohibits magazines of greater than 7 rounds capacity. (See 18 U.S.C. §927,
Effect on State Law) Also, it is important to remember that even under H.R. 218, the right to carry a firearm is not
universal. I-I.R. 218 overrides State and Local laws, not federal ones, so it gives no right to carry a firearm on a
commercial airliner, for example. Also , H.R. 218 by its own terms "shall not be construed to supersede or limit the
laws of any State that- (1) permit private persons or entities to prohibit or restrict the possession of concealed firearms
on their property; or (2) prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property,
installation, building, base, or park." (18 U.S.c. §926B(b) So a local government can still control the right to carry on
its own local governmental property (as opposed to public spaces), and a private citizen or shopkeeper can still control
who can carry on his or her own private property.

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