Rick Karlin is reporting at Capitol Confidential the new state requirement for handgun license re-certification is linked to New Yorker’s drivers licenses, State Police Superintendent George Beach told lawmakers during a budget hearing in Albany January 30. Under questioning by Republican Sen. Cathy Young, Beach said that anyone who goes online to re-certify has to log in with their drivers license or non-driver ID. The 2013 SAFE Act mandates that handgun licenses be renewed every five years. That means those who registered before passage of the law in early 2013 have to register by the end of January. Beach said that roughly 70 percent, or 277,000, of those who should be registered had done so by Tuesday, the day before the deadline. Beach did concede that there are bottlenecks at the county level, where much of the updating starts, since “there are many records that are kept on paper.” County clerks have warned that the deadline would be hard to meet, and concerns that counties will be unable to meet the deadline continue. The state police have indicated they will not penalize anyone who misses the date. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.