New York Bans Domestic Abusers From Owning Guns

NEW YORK, NY — New Yorkers convicted of domestic violence will soon be barred from owning guns under a new law Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Tuesday. The law expands the list of crimes that bar someone from owning a gun to include several misdemeanors that constitute domestic violence.

The addition to New York's already strict gun laws aims to keep dangerous weapons away from people with histories of violence against their partners. Women are five times more likely to be killed in a domestic violence incident when there's a gun involved, Cuomo said.

"Domestic violence is horrendous in and of itself," Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a bill-signing event at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "When you add a gun to the mix it becomes a toxic, volatile combination and all the statistics prove that."

State judges can require New Yorkers to surrender their guns if they're convicted of certain "serious" offenses or when there's an order of protection against them, lawmakers say.

The new law, sponsored by state Sen. Elaine Phillips (R-Long Island), the list of serious offenses will include misdemeanor assault, harassment and other crimes if the perpetrator is in the same family or household as the victim.

The law, set to take effect in 60 days, will also require people convicted of those crimes to hand over their long guns, shotguns and rifles as well as handguns. There was previously a loophole that meant the law didn't always apply to those bigger guns, lawmakers say.

"I am confident this common-sense legislation, which closes the gap in federal law, will protect women, men and children from their abusers and prevent further tragedies," Phillips said in a statement.

The provision bolsters the state's gun laws, which Cuomo and others have touted as the strongest in the nation. New York has the third-lowest per-capita rate for murders with a gun in the U.S. and has blocked 77,000 mentally ill people from buying firearms since the landmark SAFE Act was passed in 2013, Cuomo said.

The governor again lamented the Republican-controlled Congress's reluctance to strengthen federal gun laws, which he said are key to staunching the problem of gun violence.

"I can do everything that we can do in New York, but guns still come up from South Carolina, they still come up from Florida, they can still come in from the West," Cuomo said. "And until we have federal reform we’re not really going to make the changes that we should make."

(Lead image: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signs a law barring people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence from owning guns in New York. Photo from of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Office/Flickr)