Before the Supreme Court decides the fate of a 108-year-old concealed carry law in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul has already signed ten public safety-related bills into law strengthening gun control measures, the Associated Press reports. New York’s Legislature passed the bills last week in the wake of the Buffalo and Texas shootings.
As Congress continues to toll away at finding an answer on a national level, some states have to take things into their own hands for sweeping change.
”It just keeps happening,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a stern speech in the Bronx Monday before signing the bills into law and urging Congress to do the same. ”Shots ring out. Flags come down, and nothing changes. Except here in New York. In New York, we are taking strong bold action.”
Here are some of the changes the new laws will create in New York:
- Semi-automatic rifles are now added to the list of weapons requiring a permit and will only be available to those over age 21.
- Sales of body armor to people outside law enforcement or other state-designated professions are banned.
- Social media companies will be required to improve their policies around how they respond to hateful conduct on their platforms and “maintain easily accessible mechanisms” for the public to report people.
- Expansion of New York’s red-flag law, making it mandatory for law enforcement to confiscate weapons from potentially dangerous people if a credible complaint is made.
- Mandate the micro-stamping of bullets, which will make crimes easier to solve
New York Democrats anticipate legal challenges from Republicans and or-gun lobbyists, but like the Supreme Court case, the state is prepared to defend the laws if it has to.
“We will be ready to defend these laws against challenges,” Attorney General Tish James said at the news conference with Hochul and other Democratic leaders. “The Second Amendment is not absolute.”