For all the squawking that erupted in the wake of President Barack Obama’s executive action to expand background checks for gun buyers, including at gun shows, and increase federal law enforcement of such measures, there wasn’t a lot of response in New York.

That is because gun sellers and buyers in New York operate under some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, primarily because of the passage of the SAFE Act in January 2013. Perhaps the most significant effect Obama’s executive action could have — after the almost certain legal challenges are played out — is on gun shows and the private gun seller who operates in what might be a gray area between hobby and business.

Before the SAFE Act in New York, a guy who wanted to sell, say, a shotgun he no longer hunted with, could simply list the gun in the classifieds, wait for someone to call, and then meet the potential buyer. The meeting could be in a driveway, in a parking lot, wherever; they could make a deal and the cash and gun could be exchanged, and they would go their separate ways.

(It should be noted this was for long guns only; handgun ownership in New York state has long required a state-issued pistol permit and mandatory background check by a licensed dealer.)

After passage of the SAFE Act, hunters and collectors may still sell or buy long guns in private deals, but they have to complete the transaction with the inclusion of a federally licensed dealer, who charges a modest fee for running the buyer’s background information through the national database.

Perhaps not the most odious restriction regarding private sales, but it’s still an annoyance to many law-abiding gun owners who enjoy trading and/or selling hunting or collectible firearms.

Meanwhile, gun shows in New York are already required to have federally licensed dealers on hand to run the instant background check on all sales at the venue. Even gun buyers from New York state who find a firearm on a website, such asArmslist.com orGunbroker.com, must have

the gun shipped to a licensed dealer in the state, where the buyer must go through the background check before taking the purchase home.

So, New York gun owners are used to such restrictions. It doesn’t mean they like them — the SAFE Act resulted in several legal challenges, yet most of the laws’ elements were upheld — but Obama’s actions this week are nothing new in New York.

But it will be interesting to see what effects there are in Pennsylvania and other states where the private buying and selling of firearms is far less fettered. In the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, where hunting and recreational shooting is a way of life, trading in and collecting guns is also a way of life for many. The president’s executive action zeroing in on private sellers who could somehow be defined as a gun-selling business might affect the trader/seller who, as mentioned before, falls within the gray area of hobby and business.

While most private transactions involve a hunter who simply wants to upgrade to a newer model of turkey gun or try a different caliber for deer, there are people out there who try to make money at buying and selling guns. They recondition old firearms or find what they feel are great buys on certain models and try to turn them over for a profit.

There are also collectors who truly revere certain models, such as old lever-action Winchesters or other vintage rifles and shotguns. Such firearms are rarely — if ever — used to commit crimes, yet are collectors and weekend sellers going to be forced to apply for federal firearms licenses?

In ordering an increase in enforcement regarding gun laws, the president acknowledged existing laws are not being enforced as well as they could be, particularly in regard to the instant background check system.

If one of his solutions is to attempt to track down and sort through all the law-abiding private sellers of hunting and vintage guns to determine who might be required to be federally licensed, he has created a gigantic, pointless distraction in what should always be the real goal — keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously insane.

Jim Eckstrom is executive editor of the Olean Times Herald and Bradford Publishing Co. His email is jeckstrom@oleantimesherald.com.