Gun shop manager displays an AR-15 rifle (AFP Photo / Getty Images / Jeff Swensen)

Minor changes applied to customized firearms are reportedly being used to evade the prohibition on assault weapons in New York State, where lawmakers tightened gun laws after a string of mass shootings in 2012.

The AR-15 rifle is one of the most sought after guns in the US, in part because of its popularity for hunting deer and other game, but also because many people with little weapon experience have found it easy to use. Yet the same gun has been used in a number of mass shootings, including at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater and at Sandy Hook elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Arguing that further weapons legislation would help their state avoid a similar tragedy, New York legislators signed the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (SAFE Act) less than a month after the Connecticut shooting left 28 people dead. It was the first bill signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has called the bill the “toughest assault weapons ban in the country."

The SAFE Act forces ammunition dealers to conduct background checks on customers, creates a state registry of assault weapons, and gives mental health professionals the authority to take a gun away from an unstable patient, among other requirement. Democrats at the national level have called for all of those changes and more to be adopted for the entire country, yet critics have wondered if the changes have been as effective as initially promised.
http://rt.com/usa/ar15-tricks-ny-gun-law-109/