Sweeping Gun Control Legislation Passes NY Senate

NEW YORK — Sweeping new gun control legislation passed the state Senate on Thursday and heads to the governor's office for signature, lawmakers announced.

The legislation would raise the legal purchase age for semiautomatics to 21, mandate micro-stamping on new weapons, and empower health care professionals to apply for extreme-risk protection orders under a "red flag law," state records show.

Democrats celebrated the passage as a victory, and Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled she will sign the bills — which arrive in the wake of a mass shooting in Buffalo and school shooting in Uvalde — when they reach her desk.

"We cannot keep living like this," Hochul said. "We cannot be satisfied by New York's already tough gun laws. Shooting after shooting makes it clear that they must be even stronger to keep New Yorkers safe."

Eight bills in total have passed both houses, and another two — which create a task force on social media extremism and prohibit the sale of body vests — passed in the state Senate.

The following bills have passed both houses:

• Permit to Purchase a Semi-Automatic Rifle: Sets the legal purchase age at 21.
• Establishing New Crimes of Mass Harm: Criminalizes mass shooting threats that spur lockdowns or evacuations.
• Act to Micro-stamp Ammunition: Mandates any semiautomatics manufactured in or delivered to New York be capable of using micro-stamped ammunition.
• Strengthening Background Checks: Requires New York police departments to report recovered weapons to the state's criminal gun clearinghouse within 24 hours.
• Bolstering Extreme Risk Protection Orders: Empowers health care professionals to apply for an extreme-risk protection order against patients they believe pose a threat.
• Penalizing Large Capacity Ammo and Feeding Devices: Adjusts the definition of large-capacity ammunition feeding device.
• Improving the Definition of Firearm: Expands firearms definition to include any fire-control component designed to expel a projectile by action of explosive.
• Reporting Hateful Social Media: Mandates that social media networks provide a means for reporting hateful conduct.

These laws come as New York City grapples with gun violence that saw 10 people shot in a Brooklyn subway and what Mayor Eric Adams has described as a surge of guns in city schools.

On Thursday, a campus of Chelsea schools went on lockdown after nearby shooting saw bullets hit a COVID-19 vaccination bus.

While the proposed legislation package appears likely to become New York law, it could face a federal challenge from gun manufacturers.

The New York Times notes the Supreme Court could strike down this month a New York gun control law that limits the ability to carry weapons outside of the home.