Gov. Andrew Cuomo swiftly signed New York’s new sweeping anti-gun measures into law, just minutes after the Assembly finished an over four-hour long debate and voted for the bills.
It’s the nation's toughest gun control law and the first enacted since the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.
Surrounded by Democratic state lawmakers, and anti-gun violence groups, Cuomo signed into law what he says are “common sense” provisions that close loopholes in the state’s assault weapons ban and limit multiple bullet magazine clips to seven bullets, saying bigger clips that have the “capacity to kill a large number of human beings in a very short period of time is nonsensical to a civil society.”
The law also requires mental health professionals to report to a centralized data base the names of patients who they believe could do harm to themselves or others. Those people would not be allowed to own guns.
Background checks will now be required for the private sale of guns, and there will be stiffer penalties for using illegal weapons.
The governor was asked about increasing criticism from the NRA. His answer: “you can’t make everyone happy all the time.”
The senate passed the bill Monday night. Some Republicans are criticizing how quickly the bill was pushed through the legislature -- saying hearings should have been held first. Some GOP lawmakers say the move may be good politics for the Democrat governor, but say it is bad government for the state.
