On the eve of the first day of the annual Albany Gun Show being held at the Empire State Plaza, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today unveiled new rules for firearm safety at gun shows across the state.

Schneiderman’s office said the safety procedures were agreed to by the New York State Arms Collectors Association, Inc., which operates the Albany event as well as the Syracuse Gun Show at the state fairgrounds, which will be held in April.

Broadly, the rules require all guns brought into the event by private sellers are tagged so that the operator can be sure that if the firearm was sold, a proper background check was performed.

“Gun violence is an epidemic, and my office is working with gun show operators to create simple guidelines to ensure that these deadly weapons don’t make it into the hands of felons, terrorists, the dangerously mentally ill and others who could not pass a background check,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “As we remain vigilant against the illegal sale of guns in New York State, we appreciate this operator’s willingness to join our efforts to achieve statewide adoption of our model gun show procedures.”

The new procedures came after a 2011 investigation of gun shows statewide that found private deals often do not come with background checks.

Among the rules Schneiderman announced:

Signs throughout gun shows that New York law requires a National Instant Criminal background check (also known as “NICS”) before a sale can be completed at a gun show, all firearms brought into the show must be tagged, provide access to a deal who is authorized to conduct a NICS check at cost, limit the number of access doors so that sellers and buyers have to enter and leave through an area where the background checks can be monitored.

The rules also call for using any “reasonable means” to prevent illegal gun sales outside or near the building.

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