BUFFALO, NY - The Erie County District Attorney's office is going to stop prosecuting cases involving part of the SAFE Act which has been the subject of some contentious legal battles; The measure that prohibits people from loading more than seven rounds into a 10-round magazine.
Two federal judges ruled it unconstitutional, but New York State Police still enforced it.
Now, though, Erie County District Attorney, John Flynn, says cases against those who have been charged under that part of the law will have those charges dropped.
Flynn came by the 2 On Your Side studio to talk about the matter Monday, telling us in part, "I'm going to not prosecute this certain provision of the penal law, which is a B-misdemeanor, basically because I have a federal court decision that says it's unconstitutional. And therefore, being a rule of law guy, I am going to abide by that federal court decision. I don't have to, but I'm going to."
And with State Police still enforcing the provision in other parts of NY, Flynn says, "I'm going to tell the State Police that covers my jurisdiction here in Erie County, alright, that I'm not going to prosecute this particular offense and therefore, hopefully, they won't charge it."
You can watch our full interview with Flynn in the video player above.
"I'm going to do the right thing here and abide by the federal court decision. And in reality, it's really not that many cases," Flynn says. "So at the end of the day, it's really not that big of a deal."