New York passes bill making it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy – or even HAVE – a semiautomatic rifle just weeks after 18-year-old with semi-automatics massacred ten in Buffalo as mass shootings soar across the US
- The New York State legislature voted Thursday to ban anyone under the age of 21 from buying or even possessing a semi-automatic rifle
- The bill would also require anyone buying a semi-automatic rifle to get a license – which is now only required in New York State for handguns
- It is part of a larger package of gun control measures, which also includes restricting civilian purchases of bullet-resistant armor
- Other bills would require new guns to be equipped with microstamping technology that can help law enforcement trace bullets
- The move comes less than three weeks since an 18-year-old used two semi-automatic weapons to shoot up a supermarket in Buffalo
- Ten people were killed as a result
New York’s legislature voted on its last day of session Thursday to ban anyone under the age of 21 from buying or even possessing a semi-automatic rifle.
The bill also requires anyone buying a semi-automatic rifle to get a license – which is currently only required in New York State for handguns.
But it is just one part of a larger package of gun control measures announced earlier this week by Democratic legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul to bolster New York’s already strict gun laws in the wake of a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo.
Other new legislation will restrict civilian purchases of bullet-resistant armor, and require new guns to be equipped with microstamping technology that can help law enforcement investigators trace bullets to particular firearms.
‘I really look at this passage as being very comprehensive,’ Rebecca Fischer, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence told Politico.
‘I think that for states like Connecticut and New Jersey, California, these are laws that can be used as a model t get them up to speed right away.’
The age limit bill passed the Senate along party lines, 43-20, and in the Assembly 102-47, and will now head to Hochul’s desk for her signature.
She is widely expected to sign off on the bills, telling FOX 5 on Wednesday: ‘We’re going to have a package that people are going to be proud of, and it’s going to close some loopholes, but also say that 18 year olds who cannot buy a beer at the local bar should not be able to buy an assault weapon.
‘We’re going to change that immediately.’
The move to pass more gun control measures comes less than three weeks after a gunman opened fire at a Top’s Friendly Markets store in Buffalo. A crowd is seen gathering as the police investigated the shooting on May 14
Many Republicans in the New York State Senate opposed the new gun limitations, arguing they would inconvenience law-abiding firearms owners and could be easily circumvented by people determined to get weapons.
But Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat, said he had no problem putting up obstacles.
‘It is meant to be a hassle to those folks who might want to get their hands quickly on something with which they could mass murder people,’ he said.
The age limit change would largely impact areas outside New York City, which already requires permits to possess, carry and purchase any type of firearm and prohibits most applicants under 21.
As a result of the bill, New York would join a handful of states – including Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont and Washington – that require buyers to be at least 21 instead of 18 to purchase some types of long guns.
Similar legislation has also been proposed in Utah.
But legal fights over the legislation are expected, with the Supreme Court already expected to overturn the state’s limits on concealed carry permits.
And California’s attempt to raise the legal buying age for semi-automatic weapons has also been challenged.
On May 11, a U.S. appeals court panel in northern California ruled 2-1 that the state´s ban on the sale of semi-automatic weapons to adults under 21 is unconstitutional.
Payton Gendron reportedly documented how he wanted to shoot up a facility used mainly by black people and had previously threatened to shoot up Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna High School around graduation. He was indicted Wednesday on several charges, including one count of an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate and ten counts of first degree murder
The two judges who ruled in the majority were part of Republican President Donald Trump´s wave of conservative-approved nominees that reshaped the famously liberal court.
The National Rifle Association is also challenging Florida’s ban on the sale of rifles and other firearms to adults under age 21, which was passed in the wake of a 2018 shooting that killed 17 students and staff at a high school in Parkland.
Semi-automatic rifles automatically load each bullet after firing, although firing requires pulling the trigger for each round. That makes it possible for mass murderers to kill more people in a short amount of time.
Previously, people as young as 16 could possess long guns like rifles and shotguns without a license in New York, although they had to be 18 to buy one from a federally licensed firearms dealer.
Sen. Alexis Weik, a Republican of Long Island, pointed out that an 18 year old could still travel to another state and buy a semi-automatic rifle.
Sen. Kevin Thomas, a Long Island Democrat and one of the bill´s sponsors, replied, ‘Are you advocating for federal gun control? Because that what´s needed.’
New York lawmakers were also passing legislation expanding the list of people who can apply for an extreme risk protection order, a court order that can temporarily prohibit someone from purchasing or possessing a firearm if they are believed to be a danger to themselves or others.
‘Even as we take action to protect New Yorkers, we recognize that this is a nationwide problem. I once again urge Congress to seize this moment and pass meaningful gun violence prevention measures. We have no time to waste,’ Hochul said in a statement.
Police were seen walking along the perimeter of the scene after the shooting last month
Ten people – all of whom are black – were killed in the apparently racially motivated attack
The move to expand the state’s already strict gun control laws comes just weeks after 18-year-old Payton Gendron drove about three hours from his home in Conklin to a supermarket in Buffalo, where he began firing.
Investigators say Gendron had intended to kill as many black people as possible in the shooting at the Tops Friendly Markets store on May 14.
He had apparently detailed his plans and his racist motivation in hundreds of pages of writings he posted online shortly before the shooting, and had previously threatened to shoot up Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna High School around graduation.
Gendron was released after spending a day-and-a-half in the hospital following that incident, and had no further contact with law enforcement before the shooting.
He was then able to purchase an AR-15-style rifle and some body armor, which he used in his attack, which killed 10 people and injured three others.
Gendron has since been indicted on several charges, including one count of an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate and ten counts of first degree murder.
The 25-count indictment also contains charges of murder and attempted murder as a hate crime and weapons possession, and he has previously been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting, for which he pleaded not guilty.
The domestic terrorism charge accuses Gendron of killing ‘because of the perceived race and/or color’ of his victims.
In an address Thursday night, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass sweeping gun control legislation following the Buffalo shooting and another one 10 days later in Uvalde, Texas – where 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school
The shooting – as well as another one in Uvalde, Texas just 10 days later, when 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school – has renewed the debate about gun control in the country.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, at least nine people were killed and more than 60 were injured in at least 14 ‘mass shootings’ around the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an institute tracking shootings in the country.
Overall, gun violence over the weekend saw 156 people killed and 412 injured.
And on Thursday, the United States House Judiciary Committee held a markup session for the ‘Protecting Our Kids Act,’ which would raise the purchasing age of certain semiautomatic centerfire rifles from 18 to 21 throughout the country.
It also goes after high-capacity magazines, ghost guns and bump stocks and mandates certain requirements for firearms storage on residential facilities.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi also promised to have a hearing and markup of the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004.
And House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer also set a vote for next week for red flag legislation offered by Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., whose son was a victim of gun violence a decade ago.
Republicans, meanwhile, remained firm in their resistance and the eight-piece measure is unlikely to make it through the Senate after the House passes it.
But a bipartisan group of senators led by Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are working on a slimmed-down gun control measure that focuses on state-based red flag programs, school safety and mental health programs.
In a televised speech Thursday evening, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass such sweeping gun control measures.
He insisted, though: ‘This is not about taking away anyone’s guns. It’s not about vilifying gun owners. We believe we should be treating responsible gun owners as every gun owner should behave.’
But, Biden added, ‘The Second Amendment is not absolute.’
The president then made the matter an election year issue, imploring voters to make the matter of gun control ‘central to your vote.’
His calls went beyond what the House package would do, calling for an outright ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, strengthening background checks and requirements for gun owners to properly store their firearms.
Biden admitted the likely defeat on an assault weapons ban, but said that the minimum age for such weapons should at least be raised from 18 to 21.