Cuomo wanted to be first in the Nation...
http://www.timesunion.com/...
"You can overpower the extremists with intelligence and with reason and with common sense," Cuomo said just before signing the bill at 5:10 p.m.
After passing the state Senate 43-18 late Monday night, the bill cleared the Assembly 104-43 at the conclusion of an almost five-hour debate.
The National Rifle Association released a statement saying that its members "are outraged at the draconian gun control bill that was rushed through the process late Monday evening."
Draconian! Draconian they say! Outraged NRA members! No one could have predicted... oh... well... I guess one could have predicted... but... whatever... ask me if I give shit if they are outraged.
Some descriptions of what's in it..
Assault weapons:
The NY SAFE Act would adjust the definition of a banned assault rifle so that any single characteristic — such as a telescoping stock, flash suppressor, bayonet attachment or pistol grip — on a semiautomatic rifle would render it illegal. Existing weapons would be grandfathered in, but their ownership could not be transferred.
Registration... including privacy provisions:
A statewide registry of these guns would be created, and the county-by-county process for issuing handgun permits would also be standardized and centralized. In a change to the state's Freedom of Information Law, permit applicants would be able to request their name and address not be released — a point that arose after the Journal News in Westchester County last month published a list of the names and addresses of pistol permit holders.
High Capacity magazines:
The maximum capacity of an ammunition magazine would be reduced from 10 rounds to seven, and a current exemption for clips manufactured before 1994 will end.
Private Sale Background checks:
Private sales of firearms, which now proceed unfettered, would require a background check through a licensed dealer, putting those transactions in line with current purchasing requirements for rifles and shotguns.
And of course stiffer criminal penalties:
At the urging of Republicans in the Senate, the bill also stiffens penalties for people who use guns criminally. It would also include an expansion of mental health providers' ability to commit those found to be a danger to the public — another GOP priority — under what's known as Kendra's Law.
And in what Cuomo termed "the Webster Provision" — a reference to the Dec. 24 killings of two firefighters fatally shot while responding to a call in a suburb of Rochester — the murder of a first responder will become a felony punishable by life in prison without parole.
It's a start. Let's see what other states and the White House can get done.