Cuomo signs toughest gun bill in nation

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The New York gun control provisions passed by the Senate Monday night and passed by the Assembly Tuesday afternoon cover several fronts. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the proposals would enact the following changes and he signed the bill into law Tuesday evening.

WEB EXTRA | Read the full text of the bill here

• Further restrict assault weapons to define them by a single feature, such as a pistol grip. Current law requires two features.
• Make the unsafe storage of assault weapons a misdemeanor.
• Mandate a police registry of assault weapons.
• Establish a state registry for all private sales, with a background check done through a licensed dealer for a fee, excluding sales to immediate relatives.
• Require a therapist who believes a mental health patient made a credible threat to use a gun illegally to report the threat to a mental health director who would then have to report serious threats to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. A patient's gun could be taken from him or her.
• Ban the Internet sale of assault weapons.
• Restrict ammunition magazines to seven bullets, from the current national standard of 10. Current owners of higher-capacity magazines would have a year to sell them out of state. Someone caught with eight or more bullets in a magazine could face a misdemeanor charge.
• Require that stolen guns be reported within 24 hours. Otherwise, the owner would face a possible misdemeanor.
• Increase sentences for gun crimes including for taking a gun on school property.
• Increase penalties for shooting first responders, called the "Webster provision." Two firefighters were killed when shot by a person who set a fire in Webster on Dec. 24, 2012. The crime would be punishable by life in prison without parole.
• Limit the state records law to protect handgun owners from being identified publicly. The provision would allow a handgun permit holder a means to maintain privacy under the Freedom of Information law.
• Require pistol permit holders or those who will be registered as owners of assault rifles to be recertified at least every five years to make sure they are still legally able to own the guns.

Among our local State Senators, only Tim Kennedy and Mark Grisanti voted for it. Patrick Gallivan, Michael Ranzenhofer, George Maziarz, and Catherine Young voted against.

Sen. Kennedy said, "It was clear that something needed to be done to improve the safety of our community and our state and we need to protect the hardworking men and women of the state from senseless gun violence."

Assemblywoman Jane Corwin countered, "I don't see how this bill solves the problem. The Connecticut shooting was the impetus for the debate but if you look at the bill, the bill doesn't even solve the Connecticut shooting."

Of our local members in the NYS Assembly, only Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Sean Ryan voted for the NY Safe Act.