After a string of horrific shooting deaths in Arizona, Aurora, Oregon, Sandy Hook and others, and a substantial shift in public sentiment regarding gun control, New York State has decided to put its money where its mouth is.
Yesterday, New York lawmakers passed what is arguably the toughest gun control law in the nation, establishing a stricter assault weapons ban throughout the state and providing provisions to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. The New York law comes just as President Obama plans to announce his own executive actions to fix America’s gun laws.
In addition to making guns and ammunition more difficult to obtain in New York State, lawmakers have also tackled a laundry list of specifics. For example, assault weapons were previously defined as having 2 “military rifle” features, such as a folding stock, muzzle flash suppressor or bayonet mount. But the new law would reduce that to only 1 feature. A bipartisan contingency of Democrats and Republicans purposely used language in the new law to specifically target the military-style rifle used in the Newtown, CT shootings.
Here are the other provisions of the stringent New York gun control law:
– Current owners of military-style weapons will now have to register them.
– Private sales of assault weapons to someone other than an immediate family member would be subject to a background check through a dealer.
– Ammunition magazines would be restricted to 7 bullets, which is down from the current 10. An owner caught at home with 8 or more bullets in a magazine could face a misdemeanor charge.
– Current owners of higher-capacity magazines would have a year to sell them out of state.
– Stores that sell ammunition will have to register with the state, run background checks on buyers of bullets and keep an electronic database of bullet sales.
– New Yorkers will be barred from buying assault weapons over the Internet.
– Failing to safely store a weapon could lead to a misdemeanor charge.
An additional provision, aimed at the mentally ill, would require a therapist who believes a mental health patient has made a credible threat to use a gun illegally, to report it to a mental health director who would have to notify the state. A patient’s gun could then be taken from him or her.
Also, in what Cuomo called the “Webster provision,” sentences would increase for gun crimes against a a first responder. This portion of the law was in response to last months shooting in Webster, NY, where 2 firefighters were killed after responding to a fire set by a shooter, who eventually killed himself.
The New York law could cause a ripple effect in states throughout the country, which could eventually cripple the massive power of the NRA and their blind eye to gun violence in America.
“This is not about taking anyone’s rights away,” said Sen. Jeffrey Klein, a Bronx Democrat. “It’s about a safe society … today we are setting the mark for the rest of the county to do what’s right.”
