Cuomo Gun Control Law May Halt TV And Movie Production In New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s strict gun control law may force television shows and movies to leave New York and go elsewhere to film. New York has become a popular venue for Hollywood productions, which no doubt have put a lot of money into state coffers.
The SAFE Act was rushed through the New York state legislature in January by Gov. Cuomo and his allies after the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Even Cuomo himself has admitted the law is flawed in that one provision banning magazines that hold more than seven rounds is unworkable because no manufacturer makes seven-round magazines. The provision was suspended indefinitely according to lawmakers.
Recently the Albany police union — in the backyard of the New York state capitol — formally announced that it “condemns and opposes” the SAFE Act (i.e., the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act) and is calling for its repeal because the measure was more about politics than public safety. Many other law enforcement agencies and local and county governments have formally expressed opposition to the law, which is also being challenged in court.
Hollywood also has issues with the new gun control law, especially considering that there are said to be about 30 ongoing productions in the state that use banned weaponry in their storylines: “Officials in the movie and television industry say the new laws could prevent them from using the lifelike assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that they have employed in shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and films like The Dark Knight Rises.”
Perhaps as an unintended consequence, the law could undermine the entertainment industry’s ability to continue location “shooting” (so to speak) in the Empire State: “Industry workers say that they need to use real weapons for verisimilitude, that it would be impractical to try to manufacture fake weapons that could fire blanks, and that the entertainment industry should not be penalized accidentally by a law intended as a response to mass shootings … Industry officials, though, say the state’s hastily developed gun control measures pose an unexpected challenge to their growing production business in New York — the possibility that fake police officers on television could be treated as real-life criminals.”
The state legislature so far has been reluctant to amend the law to give Hollywood a pass.
Separately, at least one law-abiding citizen recent had his guns wrongly confiscated by the New York State Police based on the improper application of the mental-health provisions of the SAFE Act. He was forced to go to court to obtain reinstatement of his gun license.
