NY gov. signs law raising age to own semiautomatic rifle

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New Yorkers less than age 21 will be prohibited from obtaining semiautomatic rifles beneath a new legislation signed Monday by Gov. Kathy Hochul, creating the point out just one of the 1st to enact a important gun control initiative subsequent a wave of deadly mass shootings.

Hochul, a Democrat, signed 10 community protection-linked bills, including a single that will require microstamping in new firearms, which could aid law enforcement resolve gun-connected crimes.

Yet another revised the state’s “red flag” regulation, which lets courts to temporarily acquire absent guns from individuals who may well be a risk to on their own or other people.

“In New York, we are using bold, sturdy motion. We’re tightening red flag legislation to continue to keep guns absent from perilous people today,” Hochul stated at a press conference in the Bronx.

New York’s Legislature handed the expenditures previous 7 days, pushing the improvements by way of just after a pair of mass shootings involving 18-calendar year-outdated gunmen utilizing semiautomatic rifles. 10 Black people died in a racist assault on a Buffalo supermarket Could 14. A Texas university taking pictures took the life of 19 youngsters and two teachers 10 days later on.

Most individuals less than age 21 experienced previously been banned from owning handguns in New York. Individuals age 18 and in excess of will still be authorized to very own other kinds of extended guns, including shotguns and bolt-motion rifles.

Aspect of New York’s new regulation will also call for all purchasers of semiautomatic rifles to get a license, something now required only for handguns.

Hochul also signed a monthly bill Monday that will restrict sales of bullet-resistant vests and armor only to folks in sure professions.

The governor said New York will carry on to commit in avoidance of gun-linked crimes by partnering with nearby communities and continuing to reinforce legal guidelines by putting pressure on Congress.

“Today is the start out, and it’s not the conclude,” reported Hochul. “Thoughts and prayers won’t take care of this, but getting sturdy motion will. We will do that in the identify of the lives that have been missing, for the mother and father who will no extended see their young children stepping off the faculty bus.”

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Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Connected Push/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for The us is a nonprofit nationwide service method that locations journalists in nearby newsrooms to report on undercovered problems. Follow Maysoon Khan on Twitter.