Potential changes to New York Body Armor ban as loopholes come into question

The new law barring sales of bullet-resistant vests to most civilians in New York does not cover the type of armor worn by the gunman who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket. And that gap is raising questions about the law's effectiveness in deterring military-style assaults.To get more news about hard armor panels, you can visit bulletproofboxs.com official website.

The lead sponsor of the bill that now bans civilians from purchasing certain types of body armor says the legislature wanted to act quickly and may not have gotten everything right, but he is willing to go back and close any loopholes.

During the attack at the Tops supermarket in Buffalo in mid-May, Payton Gendron wore a steel-plated vest. The armor was strong enough to stop a handgun round fired by a store security guard who tried to end Gendron's killing spree. But that type of vest was not specifically banned under the new legislation quickly put into place here in New York after the attack. The new law restricts sales of vest defined as bullet-resistant soft body armor.Soft vests are light, can be concealed beneath clothing and can protect against pistol fire. Vests carrying steel ceramic or polyethylene plates, which can potentially protect against rifle rounds, are "not" explicitly covered by the legislation.

Newburgh Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson was lead sponsor of the body armor ban for civilians. He says he is willing to rework the legislation.Jacobson said lawmakers did not want "...the perfect to get in the way of the good." He called the legislation "....a very good first step..." and said the legislature would have been opened up to criticism had it not acted. He added that he was happy to make the law even stronger to close those loopholes.

As we told you a few weeks ago, the non-profit Violence Project, which tracks mass shootings, shows that 12 percent of the shooters who killed four or more people in a public space since 1966 wore body vests.

New Yorkers are still allowed to own body vests and purchase them in other states, although Jacobson reportedly has said he would work to eliminate that option during the next legislative session.