By Bill Parry
Count state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria) among the Senate Democrats who are flummoxed by the Cuomo administration’s latest shift on gun control.
State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (D-Suffolk) and Director of State Operations Jim Malatras signed a “memorandum of understanding” that appears to suspend a key part of the governor’s 2013 gun control law by preventing the state from spending funds on the creation of the database that would keep track of ammunition sales until both sides agree on a spending plan.
The database was originally approved as part of the Safe Act, which passed with heavy Democratic support in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in Newtown, Conn. It was meant to contain records related to gun licenses and criminal conduct.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) called the memorandum “an ill-advised end run around the Legislature and the Safe Act.” Gianaris, the deputy minority leader in the Senate, called it “dangerous stuff, knocking a whole house of the legislature off the table like that.”
Some observers said the move allows Republicans to claim they are killing off part of the gun control law.
“After all the incidents of gun violence around the country the last thing we need it to do is make it harder to get background checks done,” Gianaris said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joined NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill to announce the introduction of bipartisan gun-trafficking legislation aimed at cracking down on the flow of illegal weapons, making interstate gun trafficking a federal crime. According to the NYPD, 90 percent of the weapons used in New York City gun crimes come from out of state, including those used in the recent murders of Detectives Wenjian Liu, Rafael Ramos and Brian Moore.
“I am not willing to throw my hands in the air and say nothing can be done while lives are being senselessly lost due to weapons being in the hands of criminals,” Gillibrand said. “We all have a moral obligation to make our voices heard and say enough is enough. By cracking down on illegal gun traffickers and their vast criminal networks, we can stop the flow of illegal guns and save innocent lives.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
