Cuomo Gun Control Law Needs To Be Fixed, Gov. Admits
The Cuomo gun control law scheduled to take effect on April 15 has some issues.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has conceded that the strict gun control legislation is unworkable in terms of its ban on magazines that hold more than seven rounds.
In their haste, lawmakers were apparently unaware that that hardly any US manufacturer makes seven-round magazines. So Cuomo is huddling with state legislators to change the law to allow ammo clips to continue to hold 10 rounds “but still forbid New Yorkers from loading more than 7 rounds into those magazines.”
The seven-round limitation will apparently be suspended until the legislation can be rewritten. Another amendment may exempt active and retired cops from the restriction as well as exempt movie and TV props.
In a press conference about repealing that particular provision, Cuomo admitted that “there is no such thing as a seven-bullet magazine. That doesn’t exist. So you really have no practical option.”
New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has also said that “Gun manufacturers don’t make seven-round magazines and aren’t planning to.” Indeed, most manufacturers appear to have no plans to make downsized magazines just for gun owners in New York State.
The Cuomo gun control law — which is already subject to a lawsuit from various Second Amendment rights organizations — currently bans high-capacity magazines; requires dealers, including private dealers, to perform background checks; requires a registry of assault weapons; strengthens New York’s pre-existing assault weapons ban; and implements various other provisions.
The tough New York gun control restrictions, officially called the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, the first such legislation put on the books since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was rushed into law on January 15. Strong gun control supporter Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has acknowledged that lawmakers should have read the SAFE legislation more carefully and considered all the implications before lining up to vote on it.
Andrew Cuomo now wants to weaken the gun-control measure he rushed through the NY legislature. ow.ly/jhgmG
— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 21, 2013
Compliance by law-abiding citizens is one thing, but will wrongdoers actually “self police” themselves in terms of the ammo restriction? Reason writer Jacob Sullum doesn’t think so: “It is beyond fanciful to suppose that, having obtained a 10-round magazine, a criminal would think twice about putting more than seven rounds in it because legislators said he shouldn’t.”
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