Cuomo Signs Bill Restricting Firearms For Domestic Abusers

A bill that takes weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers is now law in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation this week that will make sure that domestic abusers surrender all firearms, not just handguns.

“In a time when gun violence continues to relentlessly torment communities across the country while our federal government refuses to act, New York must lead the charge to end this epidemic once and for all,” he said.

“With this legislation, we can sever the undeniable connection between domestic abuse and deadly gun violence, and continue to build upon the strongest gun laws in the nation.”

The purpose of the legislation (S8121, A10272) is to ensure that domestic violence offenders do not have access to firearms.

A previous version of the law narrowly prohibited the possession of firearms for people convicted of a felony or a limited number of misdemeanor “serious” offenses.

Cuomo said that many misdemeanor offenses that were undeniably serious were excluded.

The just-enacted legislation expands the list of crimes that require the loss of a gun license and the surrendering of all firearms, including rifles and shotguns.

This makes certain that no domestic abuser in the state retains the ability to possess a firearm once convicted of a disturbing crime, Cuomo said.

Assemb. Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said that this bill sends a message that the state does not value gun rights above public safety.

“Research says that one in three women in the Unites States will be assaulted by their domestic partner during their lifetimes,” she said. “In many of those cases, firearms often play a role.”

This law not only closes the loopholes, “but it ensures that anyone convicted of domestic violence will lose access to their gun license and firearms,” Paulin said.

At the bill signing, Cuomo also proposed legislation to establish a 10-day waiting period for people who are not immediately approved to purchase a firearm through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

Current federal law requires gun dealers to conduct a NICS background check on a potential buyer prior to selling a firearm. The system provides the dealer with three possible answers: proceed, denied or delayed.

In the case of “delayed,” the dealer has to wait three additional days before the sale can go through, even though the FBI can continue investigating the potential buyer past the three-day period.

That could result in the individual being allowed to buy the weapon after three days, even though he or she may not, in fact, be eligible.

“What insanity is that?” Cuomo said. “Why would you sell the gun to a person when you by admission don’t know who you’re selling it to and you don’t know if they can pass a background check.”

Tim Andrews, president of S.C.O.P.E, a second-amendment advocacy group, is not a fan of Cuomo’s proposal.

“The system was set up to be instant,” he told WHAM-TV in Rochester. “If you can’t figure it out in three days, you won’t figure it out in 10 days.”

Photo credit: Governor Andrew Cuomo.