New York law allows kids to own rifles at 16

The complex web of federal and state gun laws has produced a hodgepodge of regulations across the country — and even in New York state.

Federal law bars licensed gun dealers from selling rifles and ammo to anyone younger than 18, but there’s no age restriction when it comes to sales between private individuals.

And while 22 states and the District of Columbia ban rifle sales to minors, New York — outside New York City — is among those that let kids 16 and older with a hunting permit possess the weapons, according to information compiled by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

New York state requires any teen who wants to buy a rifle privately to undergo a $10 background check by a federally licensed gun dealer, said Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Asked what such a check might reveal about someone that age, Giffords Law Center senior staff attorney Mike McLively said, “Not much.”

A 2013 gun-control law signed by Gov. Cuomo following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre bans possession of the AR-15 rifle used in Wednesday’s Florida school slaughter.

But variations of the exact same model are offered for sale to state residents because they don’t have certain features — like a pistol grip or thumb hole in the stock — that are outlawed.

An online ad for a “featureless” Smith & Wesson M&P 15 says that even though it has a detachable, 10-round magazine, its custom stock means “New York does not consider this rifle an assault weapon and therefor [sic] is transferable and does not need to be registered.”

“Manufacturers are very good at looking at the law, seeing what it says, and making something that comes right up to the line . . . and you can still do a lot of damage with it,” McLively said.

A Cuomo spokesman said the governor was open to even stricter gun-control measures.

“We would review any proposal to further strengthen the strongest gunsafety laws in the country, which to date barred more than 77,000 dangerously mentally ill people from getting their hands on a gun, banned high-capacity magazines once and for all and closed a dangerous loophole that allowed private gun sales without any background check,” said the spokesman, Richard Azzopardi.