Family Life

01.15.13 | Sarah Harnisch

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have tentatively agreed on a broad package of changes to gun laws that would expand the state's ban on assault weapons. It includes new measures to keep guns away from the mentally ill.  Approval of the legislation would make New York the first state to act in response to the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut last month. The Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, or NY SAFE, would enact a number of new measures, including a ban of all magazines that hold more than seven rounds and universal background checks for all gun sales, regardless if they are private, person-to-person sales.

The bill, Cuomo said, also includes a "Webster provision" — a life-without-parole prison sentence for anyone who murders a first responder. The provision was included as a response to a Christmas Eve shooting in the Monroe County, N.Y., town in which two firefighters were shot and killed while responding to a blaze.

The bill also includes several provisions pushed for by Senate Republicans, who have expressed a reluctance to bolstering New York's current assault weapons ban. Among them are a new felony for carrying a firearm on school grounds, as well as provisions allowing pistol-permit holders to request that their personal information be guarded from open-records requests.

Assault weapons -- defined as any rifle with a "military style" feature, such as a bayonet or a telescoping stock -- that are currently owned would be grandfathered and would have to be registered with the state. Magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds and manufactured before 1994, which are currently legal, would have to be turned over to authorities or sold out of state within one year. If a magazine has a capacity between eight and 10, it would have to be retrofitted to only hold seven rounds.

Under Cuomo's plan, the state would have one year to set up an instant background check system for all ammunition purchases. Law enforcement would be alerted to large purchases of ammunition.

Some Republican lawmakers warn that they're concerned the state will be able to just walk into your house and confiscate weapons. They say this is the beginning of a slippery slope of government control.