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Cuomo Wants To Strengthen Assault Weapons Ban, Gun Fans Fear "Nazi Germany"
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 9, 2013
Modified Jan 9, 2013
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 9, 2013
Modified Jan 9, 2013
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Acting on gun control momentum generated by the Newtown massacre, Governor Cuomo will use his State of the State address today to outline his proposal for an assault weapons ban that would make New York's laws the most restrictive in the country. New York already has an assault weapons ban, but Cuomo says it has too many loopholes. Sources tell CBS 2 Cuomo will also propose stiffer penalties for using a gun to commit a crime and new limits on the number of bullets in a gun magazine. Naturally, all this talk about guv'ment coming for patriots' machine guns has freaked some people out.
Gun rights advocates point out that assault rifles were responsible for only five of the 769 homicides last year. "This issue is not about guns, and the reason they are pushing the gun issue is because it’s much easier for them to say, ‘Look what we did; we’re going to make people safer in New York. We passed more gun laws,’ ” Thomas H. King, the president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, tells the Times.
Cuomo also terrified gun rights groups when, in a recent radio interview, he said that assault weapon "confiscation could be an option." In response, gun rights advocates are calling on the federal government to intervene in New York State, creating a petition on the White House website that declares, “we do NOT LIVE IN NAZI GERMANY." Taking a somewhat less hysterical approach, Senate Republicans called for stiffening penalties for violations of existing gun laws, which Cuomo's spokesman said "insults the common sense of New Yorkers." Flattery will get you everywhere, Mister Spokesman.
Tagged
assault rifle
assault weapons ban
governor cuomo
gun control
shooting
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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