No New Yorker Younger Than 21 Should Own A Gun, Politician Says

NEW YORK, NY — Teens who can't buy a beer in New York shouldn't be able to own a deadly weapon, one Manhattan state senator says. Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, introduced a bill Thursday that would raise the minimum age to possess any kind of gun to 21.

The legislation would close a loophole in the state's strict gun laws that allows New Yorkers as young as 16 to own rifles, shotguns and legal assault weapons despite a ban on anyone younger than 21 possessing a handgun, Hoylman said.

"Since Washington refuses to act, New York must take additional steps to reduce gun deaths among kids," Hoylman said in a statement.

The bill comes as advocates and lawmakers in New York and across the country push for tougher gun-control laws after the deadly Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Some 23 states have set a minimum age between 18 and 21 to possess long guns, Hoylman's office said, citing figures from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. A universal age of 21 would put New York on par with Hawaii, Illinois and Washington, D.C., the senator's office said.

Hoylman has also sponsored a bill that would make it illegal to own a so-called bump stock or any other device that makes semi-automatic weapons fire like machine guns. State Senate Democrats have put forward other bills to strengthen gun background checks, allow judges to strip guns from people likely to harm others, and bar people who commit hate crimes from owning guns, proposals Republicans have rejected.

The Republican-controlled state Senate on Monday passed a package of legislation aimed at increasing school security after the Florida shooting. It includes a bill that would require an NYPD cop to be present at every New York City school.

"A specially trained, armed police officer stationed at the entrance of every school provides instantaneous security," Brooklyn state Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, said in a statement. "They are a deterrent to murderers seeking to kill our children."

(Lead image: State Sen. Brad Hoylman speaks at an event in December 2016. Photo by Lars Niki/Getty Images for Housing Works)