Governor Kathy Hochul announces executive orders, legislation to strengthen gun control laws, combat domestic terrorism (May 18, 2022)
Ten bills tightening gun laws have been introduced in the New York State Legislature.
The agreement comes in the wake of mass shootings at a Texas elementary school and a Buffalo supermarket that left dozens dead and prompted renewed calls for change at the national level.
Governor Kathy Hochul said New York must step up as it remains unclear if Congress will take action, and stated, “Within the last month, two horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and in Texas have rattled this nation to our core and shed a new light on the urgent need for action to prevent future tragedies. New York already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country but clearly we need to make them even stronger.”
The package includes measures prohibiting the sale and purchase of body armor for anyone not in law enforcement and closing the “any other weapon” loophole that allows the sale of certain weapons that would otherwise be banned. Another bill could lead to the microstamping of ammunition.
Among the biggest changes to New York’s gun laws will be a new requirement that anyone seeking to buy a semiautomatic rifle must be at least 21, up from 18, and must first obtain a gun license.
Currently, licenses and permits are needed only for handguns.
Other bills will strengthen the state’s “red flag” law, which helps remove guns from those who may be a threat to themselves or others, and create a new “Task Force on Social Media and Violent Extremism” within the attorney general’s office to “study and investigate the role of social media companies in promoting and facilitating violent extremism and domestic terrorism online.”
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the package before the scheduled end of the legislative session Thursday, June 2.
Other bills slated for approval will eliminate the grandfathering of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices lawfully possessed prior to the enactment of the SAFE Act in 2013 or manufactured prior to 1994.
Under the new laws, police will have to report seized or recovered guns to the criminal gun clearinghouse and share information with federal authorities as well as test-fire seized or recovered guns for the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network.
The state police will also be required to conduct inspections of gun dealers every three years.
Leave a Reply