ALBANY – Legislation sponsored
by Senator John Bonacic (R, Mt. Hope) that would authorize the Ulster
County Sheriff to be an additional handgun licensing officer, has passed
in the Senate. It now goes to the Assembly.
Current law provides that licensing officers be a judge or justice in the county.
“It is unacceptable that law abiding citizens who seek to lawfully possess handguns should have to wait excessive amounts of time due to backlog,” Bonacic said. He called his bill “a common sense piece of legislation.”
The measure was requested by Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum, who cited significant backlog in the processing of handgun licenses, sometimes greater than nine months.
