Hochul Signs Strengthened NY Gun Control Measures Into Law

NEW YORK CITY — A sweeping set of strengthened gun control measures became law in New York with a few strokes of Gov. Kathy Hochul's pen.

Hochul signed 10 gun control bills into law Monday during a raucous Bronx event in which she and other New York leaders took turns grieving over a never-ending spate of mass shootings — including the racist slaughter of 10 people in a Buffalo supermarket and the massacre of 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.

They alternated their grief with anger over political inaction that has blocked efforts to stem the violence.

"It just keeps happening,” Hochul said. “Shots ring out, flags come down and nothing ever changes. Except here in New York.”

"Thoughts and prayers won’t fix this, but taking strong action will.”

The "strong action" touted by Hochul is a package of laws that raise the legal purchase age for semiautomatic weapons to 21, mandate micro-stamping on new weapons and strengthen "red flag" laws that allow for more extreme-risk protection orders.

With the laws, New York politicians purposely aimed to position the state as a model for gun control efforts. Hochul and state lawmakers have made clear that while such efforts could help protect New Yorkers, they also believe Congress should pass wider national laws.

Attorney General Letitia James bemoaned the lack of action that she pinned on "feckless, spineless, reckless party known as the GOP."

Commonsense gun control steps should be taken because the "Second Amendment is not absolute," she said.

"We cannot wait for another baby, another child, another innocent victim to have their face blown away," she said.

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