The war on gun ownership in New York State continues as illegal gun owners are trying to stay one step ahead of legislation trying to put a clamp on guns which can be modified to be an assault weapon for just $25.
Governor Kathy Hochul (D – Buffalo) said gun violence in New York State has declined 47 percent since she took office in 2021. Hochul recently signed a package of six pieces of legislation passed by state lawmakers earlier this year.
One piece of legislation, sponsored by Senator Michael Gianaris (D – Astoria, Queens) and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D – Riverdale, The Bronx), requires firearms dealers and gunsmiths to post warnings at sites where firearms are sold and distribute warnings at the time of sale. These warnings must state that firearms increase the risk of suicide, death during domestic disputes, and/or unintentional death to children.
“Education and information are key to responsible gun ownership, which will prevent injury and improve public safety,” Gianaris said.
“This is a significant step forward in our efforts to protect families and communities across New York,” Dinowitz said. “This law ensures that firearms dealers must clearly warn purchasers of the dangers that weapons pose in the home, particularly the increased risk of suicide, domestic violence and accidental deaths, especially among children. By providing this information and directing individuals in crisis to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, we are equipping people with the resources they need to make informed decisions and keep their loved ones safe.”
The pistol converter legislation was sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D – West Village, Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D – Boerum Hill, Brooklyn). The pistol converter is defined as a device that can be attached to the slide of a semi-automatic pistol and interfere with the trigger mechanism, allowing the user to discharge a number of shots rapidly or automatically with one continuous pull of the trigger. The legislation also requires the gun industry to take “reasonable steps” to prevent the installation and use of pistol converters on their products,” Hochul said.
“It is important to hold gun manufacturers responsible for making an unsafe product. They have known for decades that Glock can be modified with a device that costs $25 to in effect turn it into a machine gun capable of firing 15 rounds in under two seconds,” Hoylman-Sigal told The Jewish Press. “It is outrageous. Gun makers like Glock know these devices, called auto-sears or “Glock switches,” are widely available but they have chosen to do nothing about it, putting profits before the public’s safety. This law will require Glock and all gun manufacturers to take reasonable steps to ensure their products aren’t compatible with machine gun conversion devices or face the consequences of legal liability. We are once again standing up to the gun lobby to make New York a safer place.”
“New Yorkers are sick of weapons manufacturers ignoring their role in the gun violence epidemic in this nation – so we are taking action where they won’t,” Simon said. “For four decades Glock has known that its pistols can be easily and cheaply converted. No other major firearm manufacturer uses this easily convertible design. It’s time to put people over profit and hold Glock and Glock wannabes to account.”
A third bill would require the court to notify the statewide registry of orders of protection and warrants when a temporary and/or final extreme risk protection order (ERPO) is issued, ensuring that ERPOs are tracked in the statewide registry of orders of protection and warrants. The legislation was sponsored by Senator Shelley Mayer (D – Yonkers, Westchester County) and Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D – Glen Cove, Nassau County).
“This new law will modernize the state’s process for filing extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs or “Red Flag Laws”) by requiring all temporary and permanent ERPOs to be reported to the statewide computerized registry for orders of protection and arrest warrants,” said Mayer. “We can ensure police know when someone has an outstanding ERPO and better protect victims who face an ongoing risk of violence from someone in their life.”
“By keeping guns away from those who are at a high risk of using them to hurt other people or themselves, the state’s so-called ‘ERPO’ is a necessary tool at the disposal of judges,” Lavine said. “This new law provides the necessary enhancements to modernize the existing ERPO law and will help it do what it was intended to do in the first place – save lives.”
A fourth piece of legislation, sponsored by Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D – West Brighton, Staten Island) and Assemblywoman Monica Wallace (D – Lancaster, Erie County) allows police agencies instead of individual police officers to be listed as the petitioner in an ERPO proceeding. “It is imperative that we protect the identities of our law enforcement officers as they carry out these vital orders to protect our communities,” said Scarcella-Spanton.
“New York’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law is a crucial tool to get firearms away from dangerous individuals,” Wallace said. “Officers have used these orders to save countless lives, including many domestic violence survivors. This law strengthens our red flag laws and protects the public from gun violence. This legislation streamlines the process by allowing law enforcement officers to apply for these orders while still protecting their personal privacy.”
The next of the gun laws requires credit and debit card issuers to use the firearms and ammunition retailers merchant category code (MCC) created by the International Organization for Standardization in 2022 for businesses whose highest sales value is from the combined sale of firearms, firearms accessories, or ammunition. It also empowers the current attorney general, Letitia James, to bring an enforcement action for any violation that is not cured within 30 days, which can result in fines up to $10,000 for noncompliance. New York becomes the third state, joining California and Colorado, to enact this requirement. Senator Zellnor Myrie (D – Crown Heights, Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D – Elmont, Nassau County) sponsored this legislation.
“Banks routinely use data to identify and deter all kinds of illicit activity, but one industry – the gun industry – has fought tooth and nail to prevent this kind of risk analysis,” said Myrie. “By signing this bill into law, we continue our work to put safer streets ahead of the gun industry’s profits. New York is establishing a common standard for all industries and ensuring that obviously suspicious patterns of firearm purchases can be detected.”
“This legislation creates a valuable new tool to help stop the proliferation of gun violence in New York,” said Solages. “Law enforcement and financial institutions must be able to swiftly identify suspicious purchasing patterns, particularly when it involves firearms or ammunition. Enhancing recognition of these dangerous trends empowers law enforcement to act decisively to prevent future tragedies. This life-saving bill would not have become law without the relentless efforts of gun violence prevention groups, survivors, and victims’ families, whose courage remains a driving force in making our state safer.”
The final piece of legislation requires a firearms licensing officer, upon the issuance of a license, to provide information about statewide resources related to safe storage of firearms, child access prevention, and firearm violence prevention, as well as information on specific county and local laws and regulations related to these practices. The legislation also requires the state to develop and implement a public awareness campaign regarding safe storage and child access prevention, requires those materials to be provided in digital format and available online, and mandates that they be updated annually. This legislation was sponsored by Mayer in the Senate and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto (Throggs Neck, The Bronx).
“It is vital all New Yorkers are aware of their responsibilities as gun owners to safely store their firearms and prevent child access,” said Mayer. Benedetto agreed, saying, “It’s imperative that upon issuance of a firearms license the new gun owner is informed about the proper storage of a firearm,” said Benedetto. “In addition, the Safe Storage law addresses the need to provide public awareness on this issue.”
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D – Upper West Side, Manhattan) told The Jewish Press that a package of legislation concerning gun safety is more effective than a single measure. “A couple of years ago I passed a bill banning ghost guns. That is one of my proud moments,” she said. “We have to keep passing laws and changing behaviors in order to get the scourge of gun violence under control.
“In the next legislative session, I have a bill about advertising to children about gun shows and various others. We need to never give up and turn adversity into something positive. That’s what we’ve seen with Gabby Giffords. She was horribly wounded and she fought back and she continues to fight back spreading the message we need to eliminate guns, assault weapons, in our lives,” Rosenthal concluded.
Giffords, a Democratic former congresswoman from Arizona, made the trip across the country to attend and speak at the October 9 bill-signing ceremony at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
Giffords updated the attendees about her recovery from a 2011 shooting in Tucson that sidelined her political career. She has since recovered much of her ability to walk, speak, read, and write, though her gait appears unsteady. (Giffords was greeted by a standing ovation upon her return to the House floor in August 2011. She resigned from Congress the following year.)
Hochul recalled Giffords’s return to the House, when she herself was a new member of Congress. “I saw courage when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords stepped down on the floor of the House of Representatives, literally months after she had been shot… Everybody surrounded you, gave you a group hug, like the most popular kid in class.
“The bullet that struck Gabby that day in Tucson may have injured her body, but – my G-d – it gave her strength… She transported that to a love of our country and a desire to save lives wherever she could. She used that travesty and turned it into triumph.”
Giffords then picked up on Hochul’s remarks as she updated the attendees at the bill-signing ceremony. “I know in the darkest of days, days of pain and unsearching recovery, confronted by paralysis, aphasia, I responded with great determination. I put one foot in front of the other. I found one word and then I got another. My recovery is a daily fight but fighting makes me stronger,” she said. “I’m also in a second fight: the fight for gun safety. We are living in challenging times. We are up to the challenge. My own recovery has taken years. Many, many, many people helped me along the way and I’ve learned so much. I learned people care for each other. A better world is possible but change doesn’t happen overnight. We can’t do it alone. Join me and let’s move ahead together.”
Giffords, 54, was raised in a mixed religious environment, as her mother was a Christian Scientist and her father was Jewish. Her paternal grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was a Jewish emigrant from Lithuania who changed his name to Giffords to avoid antisemitism in the United States. Since 2001, she has practiced Judaism exclusively and belongs to Congregation Chaverim, a Reform synagogue, in Tucson.
Giffords was 41 years old when she was shot in the head in an assassination attempt. In January 2013, two years after the shooting, she and her husband, Senator Mark Kelly, launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a non-profit organization and Super-PAC which later joined with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
At least one advocacy group is trying to educate college students in New York about gun safety. “Today we are all going to be safer. For too long the gun industry has gotten away with murder. Everytown’s efforts will focus on young voters on college campuses, voters of color, and suburban women in New York at Vassar College, Marist College, Syracuse University, Hamilton College, Utica University, Colgate University, Hofstra University, Adelphi University and Nassau Community College,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Speaking of Glock switches, Feinblatt said, “These device can be bought or they can be made by anybody. They can easily be attached to the backs of a Glock. They cost as little as $25 and they turn a pistol into a machine gun. Thanks to this first in the nation bill, change is finally upon us. Now, Glock switch victims will have their day in court and Glock will have to answer for putting profits above safety.”
More legislation similar to these new laws is expected to come during the next legislative session that begins in January.
