New York Legislators Draft Gun Control Bill Behind Closed Doors

The New York legislature could vote as soon as Monday to enact a new round of stricter gun laws. It would be the nation’s first such effort since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. 

To facilitate quick action, Governor Cuomo is being urged to dispense with the three-day public review law and pass some sort of emergency waiver to prevent public debate over the bill. All discussions are going on behind closed doors.

The Associated Press reports that weekend dealmaking behind closed doors resulted in a bill that has bipartisan support, but the full legislature has not yet had a chance to see the back room-written legislation.

New York State has a constitutional amendment that requires a three-day public review of all laws before they are allowed to take effect. However, this bill’s backroom deal makers are urging anti-gun Governor Cuomo to issue a “message of necessity” that would cancel the three-day review period.

Further discussion will continue behind closed doors and away from the light of public view.

The new law is reported to contain measures to make 10-round ammunition magazines illegal allowing only seven rounds or less per magazine. More stringent background checks for gun sales will also be instituted. Republican lawmakers are said to have included a refinement to Kendra’s Law, a mental health law that makes it easier to confine people determined to be a danger.

Republican lawmakers are also reported as wanting to include stricter penalties on illegal gun trafficking into the state. As the AP points out, “Most New York City gun crimes involve weapons illegally brought into the state, state and city officials say.”

Much of this “cracking down” appears to be being visited mostly upon legal gun owners, not criminals, because “most New York City gun crimes” already occur by criminals breaking laws.

The list of banned “assault weapons” will be increased, but there is no word as to what new weapons will appear on that list. A gun registry of so-called “assault weapons” will be created and a grandfather clause will be included for those already in private hands.

Mandatory sentencing will also be increased for crimes involving guns.