ALBANY — Lawmakers representing rural regions of New York are pushing back against proposed measures aimed at tightening access to some firearms and restricting the purchase of body armor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has struck a deal with Democratic leaders of the legislature to pass a package of gun bills prompted by the deadly shooting rampages at a Buffalo supermarket and the schoolhouse in Uvalde, Texas.
With Democrats firmly in control of both legislative chambers, the measures are expected to be approved before going to Hochul’s desk for her signature.
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Opposition
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But several GOP lawmakers and Assemblyman Billy Jones, a North Country Democrat, said the response to those atrocities would be better focused on enhancing school safety and expanding mental health services.
Downstate Democrats who favor gun control say New York will become the first state in the nation to impose new gun restrictions in the immediate aftermath of the Buffalo and Texas massacres.
One component of the gun package would introduce “microstamping” requirements on new pistols sold in the state. The technology is designed to make it easier to allow authorities to trace a weapon used in crimes.
The legislation would require the Division of Criminal Justice Services to conduct an assessment on the technology before the requirements could be implemented.
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Raising age
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The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legal Action denounced the legislation, calling the microstamping proposal “a scheme which has not been successfully implemented in a single state and has nothing to do with any of the criminal acts they are purportedly trying to prevent.”
Hochul, a Democrat who once touted her high grades from the National Rifle Association while serving in Congress, has thrown her support to a proposal advanced by Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, that would increase the minimum age for purchasing rifles from 18 to 21.
Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said it was crucial that New York limit access to what she branded “weapons of war.”
“These weapons have made places in our communities — like schools, grocery stores, houses of worship, and concerts — places of carnage,” said Stewart-Cousins.
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GOP proposals
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But GOP state senators, including Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt of Niagara County, Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, and Sen. Pete Oberacker contended New York should require armed school resource officers in all school buildings, and weave mental health services into 911 call centers to improve the response for individuals dealing with an emotional crisis.
They also called for clamping a five-year moratorium on closing additional beds at state mental hospitals and advocated for greater state support for programs dealing with the mental health needs of children.
“Acts of senseless violence have become all too prevalent and we need to take action that will get at the root of the problem,” Oberacker said.
A former city court judge, Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, R-Niagara Falls, called the Democratic gun control legislation “misguided and poorly written,” adding: “There is no focus on what is causing our youth to be experiencing such serious mental health problems. Yes, the instrumentality used in the crimes was a gun. But you can’t just focus on that and expect to make our world safer.”
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Ammunition tax
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Another new bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, D-Brooklyn, would impose an excise tax on ammunition sales in New York, with the funds being channeled into a proposed gun violence impact fund. The director of the office of victim services would oversee the awarding of grants from the ammunition taxes.
A lifelong sportsman, Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-Schoharie, argued the proposed tax would come out of the pockets of law-abiding citizens and hurt sporting goods stores by driving consumers seeking ammunition to go to states that don’t impose such taxes.
Pointing out the deadly rampages in Buffalo and Uvalde took a total of 31 lives, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-the Bronx, argued there is an urgent need for New York to pass the package of firearms bills.
“We are in desperate need of a conversation about guns, but we are also in desperate need of action,” Heastie said.
The Senate Republican package took a very different approach.
It calls for a community-wide approach to ending targeted violence, with proposed task forces in each county, made up of education experts, mental health specialists, police leaders and higher education representatives to design prevention efforts.
Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said the GOP measures would “meaningfully address the violent crime epidemic plaguing our state.”
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