Business & Tech

Bellmore Business Owner Critical of New Weapon Restrictions

Editor's Note: This article was written and submitted by Andrew Coen.

Business has been booming the last month at Martin Tretola's T&T Gunnery store in Seaford, but with New York now having the strictest gun laws in the nation following recent legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Bellmore resident worries about the long-term future of his 35-year business.

Tretola said since Cuomo signed the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act on Jan. 16, sales of all kinds of weaponry at his shop on 3778 Merrick Road have flown off the shelves. However, Tretola said that the legislation will eventually hamper gun store owners like him.

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"He is going to put every gun store owner in the state out of business with these stupid laws," said Tretola of Cuomo's legislation that makes New York the first state in the nation to ban any magazine that can hold more than seven rounds. "The laws don't make any sense."

Tretola, who last August was awarded $5 million by a federal jury for his business being damaged from a 2007 wrongful Nassau County police arrest, said Cuomo's legislation should have at least allowed for 10 rounds in magazines.

The SAFE Act also requires instant background checks on all ammunition purchases at the time of sale and allows authorities to track purchases in real time to alert law enforcement of high volume buys.

New York's gun control bill was the first signed following a tragic Dec. 14, 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 people dead including 20 children.

Cuomo said when he signed the new measures that "This new law will limit gun violence through common sense, reasonable reforms that will make New York a safer place to live."

Tretola attributes the spike in sales at T & T Gunnery to a fear gun owners have on what new restrictions might be on the horizon with President Obama pushing for Congress to vote on an assault weapons ban. He argues that the stricter gun laws will not make people safer saying "more people are killed with hammers than with rifles."

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