NY raises age for owning semi-automatic rifle to 21
NEW YORK: New Yorkers under age 21 will be prohibited from buying semi-automatic rifles under a new law signed on Monday by Gov Kathy Hochul, making the state among the first to enact a major gun control initiative following a wave of deadly mass shootings.
Hochul, a Democrat, signed 10 public safety- related bills, including one that will require microstamping in new firearms, which could help law enforcement solve gun-related crimes by helping investigators trace bullets to a particular firearm.
Another revised the state’s “red flag” law, which allows courts to temporarily take away guns from people who might be a threat to themselves or others.
More than half of mass shooters exhibited clear warning signs before committing their crimes, which makes such laws worthwhile.
“In New York, we are taking bold, strong action. We’re tightening red flag laws to keep guns away from dangerous people,” Hochul said at a press conference in the Bronx.
New York’s Legislature passed the bills last week, pushing the changes through after a pair of mass shootings involving 18-year-old gunmen using semiautomatic rifles.
The quick action in New York further illustrated the sharp divide between Republican and
Democratic leaders on how to respond to gun violence.
Texas Gov Greg Abbott said after the massacre of children in Uvalde that government should increase security in schools and resources for mental health, but the Republican says stricter gun laws are ineffective. Fellow Republican governor Tennessee Gov Bill Lee echoed similar sentiments Monday, a day after gunfire near a Chattanooga nightclub left three people dead and multiple people wounded.
In New York, most people under age 21 had already been banned from owning handguns. People age 18 and over will still be allowed to own other types of long guns, including shotguns and bolt-action rifles.
Part of New York’s new law will also require all purchasers of semi-automatic rifles to get a licence, something now required only for handguns.
Proposed federal legislation that would require buyers of semi-automatic weapons to be 21 is advancing in the US House, but is seen as facing long odds in the Senate.
A handful of states require people to be 21 to purchase any firearms, including Florida, which raised the age for legally purchasing a rifle after a 19-yearold
gunman killed 17 people at a high school.
Hochul also signed a bill on Monday that will restrict sales of bullet- resistant vests and armour only to people in certain professions. The governor said New York will continue to invest in prevention of gun-related crimes by partnering with local communities and continuing to strengthen laws by putting pressure on Congress.
“Today is the start, and it’s not the end,” said Hochul. “Thoughts and prayers won’t fix this, but taking strong action will. We will do that in the name of the lives that have been lost, for the parents who will no longer see their children stepping off the school bus.”
President Joe Biden recently addressed the nation and urged Congress to pass some gun limits after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and a racist attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, left 10 victims dead. Last week, a gunman killed four people at a medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
During warmer months, gun violence tends to spike in the United States, where there were an estimated 393 million guns in circulation in 2020, more than the number of people.
But gun regulation faces deep resistance from most Republicans and some rural-state Democrats. But Biden vowed earlier this week to “continue to push” for reform, saying: “I think things have gotten so bad that everybody is getting more rational about it.”
Some key federal lawmakers have also voiced cautious optimism and a bipartisan group of senators worked through the weekend to pursue possible areas of compromise.
They reportedly were focusing on laws to raise the minimum age for gun purchases or to allow police to remove guns from people considered a threat to themselves or others - but not on an outright ban on high-powered rifles like the weapons used in Uvalde and Buffalo.