[BwayDems] Exciting News on Tough New Gun Regulations

[Paula Diamond Roman]

Will New YorkState
Be First With Tough New Gun Regulations After Newtown?
Celeste
Katz
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2013/01/will-new-york-state-be-first-with-tough-new-gun-regulations-after-newtown
 
WATCH
FOR UPDATES! Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers reached a deal Monday to strengthen the
state’s gun laws, leaving New York poised to
become the first state to take legislative action following the Connecticut school
slaughter.
 
Update:Watch the Senate proceedings live in the player
after the story!
 
The
legislative package would expand the state’s existing ban on assault weapons,
limit the size of ammunition magazines, place further restrictions on gun
sales, and create safeguards to make it more difficult for the mentally ill to
own firearms. In a fitting coincidence of timing, lawmakers from both houses
were set to approve the measures in votes late Monday, the one month
anniversary of the killings at Sandy HookElementary School in Newtown, Conn.
 
The
legislation was backed by a hard-charging Cuomo, a potential 2016 presidential
candidate who would likely reap political capital if all goes as planned and New York takes the lead
on passing reforms aimed at reducing gun violence.
 
UPDATE:The bill has passed the Senate 43-18 at 11:20 p.m.
The session is adjourned.
 
UPDATE:The
state Assembly will not take up the legislation until Tuesday.
 
UPDATE:Said Cuomo in a statement following the Senate vote, "Tonight, the
Senators that voted for the NY SAFE Act of 2013 made a bold statement, coming
together in a bipartisan, collaborative manner to meet the challenges that face
our state and our nation, as we have seen far too many senseless acts of gun
violence. I commend Sen. Skelos, Sen. Klein, and Sen. Stewart-Cousins for their
hard work on this important legislation."
 
Monday’s lengthy negotiating sessions — a rarity on the first full
day of a legislative session — were greeted by pro-gun protesters, including
workers from upstate gun manufacturer Remington, who decried the deal as a “knee-jerk
reaction” that will cost hundreds of jobs. But lawmakers said the massacre of
20 students and six staffers in Connecticut
galvanized public opinion...
 
The package, through a host of regulations, tightens gun laws
already considered to be the nation’s fourth toughest.
 
“This is a proposal that seeks to limit gun violence,” Cuomo told reporters
at an evening press conference announcing the agreement.
 
“It has nothing to do with... legal gun owners who use their guns
appropriately.”
 
“Much of this is common sense,” the governor added.
“Unfortunately, common sense has eluded us for many years.”
 
The key provision is an expansion of the assault rifle ban, which
if passed would outlaw the Bushmaster AR-15 model used by the Newtown killer. Owners of military-style
weapons that will be made illegal can keep them if they register with the state
and undergo a background check. They can sell them out of state, but not in New York.
 
Ammunition magazines will be limited to a maximum of seven
bullets, down from ten now, and ammo dealers will be required to register with law
enforcement. Private gun sales will, for the first time, be subject to federal
background checks.
 
Senate Republicans, feeling pressure from the gun lobby, pushed to
broaden the bill by including tougher gun-related criminal penalties; measures
to boost school safety; and mental health provisions, including an expansion of
Kendra’s Law, which allows judges to order treatment to dangerously disturbed
individuals.
 
Despite Cuomo’s reference to common sense regulations, the
agreement was certain to inflame the National Rifle Association and other
defenders of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.
 
Update:Senate Republican Dean Skelos hailed the gun legislation as a “tremendous
victory” for the GOP conference and said the bill was significant because of
all the measures Republicans were able to include, including the expansion of
Kendra’s Law, tougher penalties for illegal gun crimes and new FOIL protections
for gun owners
 
“I think on balance, the second amendment is protected but also
there are incredibly enhanced criminal penalties to keep people off the street
that do not belong on the street and really attacks the issue of illegal guns,
which has been my number one priority,” Skelos said.
 
Skelos said he would support the bill but expected there would be
more nays among Republicans than yea votes.
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