New York's New Gun Control Law

It seems as though the much-publicized gun control debate has finally resulted in formal legislation. Earlier this evening, the New York became the first state to reform its gun control legislation after last December’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

After the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act passed the state Senate on a 43-18 vote Monday night and the State Assembly on a 104-43 vote earlier today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill.

In addition to requiring background checks on all gun sales, the new law broadens the definition of assault weapons, reduces the maximum permitted rounds of ammunition in a magazine from ten to seven, and establishes a state firearms database. Under this law, the rifle used in the Sandy Hook shooting would be banned.

One benefit to a federal system of government is that the federal government can use states as an “experiment”—if New York’s stricter gun control policy proves to be successful and effective, perhaps the federal government will use it as a guideline to implement it nation-wide. President Obama’s proposal for a federal gun control law is expected to be revealed Wednesday and includes provisions such as limiting the capacity of ammunition in magazines and increased background checks.

Although gun control advocates applaud the new legislation, there are various points for skepticism. For example, New York residents who now own banned weapons can either register in the new database or sell their guns to residents of other states. As the gun control debate is nationwide, being able to simply transfer a weapon into another state seems extremely ineffective and does not prevent shootings whatsoever. The National Rifle Association also pointed out Governor Cuomo’s supposed underlying political motive to “steal the thunder from an anti-gun White House.” Indeed, Cuomo said today that “I am proud to be part of this government, not just because New York has the first bill, but because New York has the best bill,” and seems to be eyeing the 2016 presidential ticket.

Just today, there has been two school shootings in St. Louis, Missouri and Hazard, Kentucky (a foreboding city name, might I say). Do you think that New York’s new legislation will be effective and spark the passage of legislation in other states? Is Cuomo’s supposed political reason behind the law worthy of criticism?