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ALBANY — If Gov. Cuomo’s appetite for more gun control is serious, there’s no shortage of bills on the menu.
From microstamping shell casings and banning assault weapons, to toughening penalties for lax storage, teaching anti-gun violence in schools and providing tax credits for the purchase of gun safety equipment, lawmakers are pushing more than a dozen measures to beef up New York’s already tough gun-control laws.
Cuomo last week called the increase in gun violence “undeniable” following the massacres in Colorado and Wisconsin, as well as shootings in the city.
But if Republicans retain control of the state Senate in November, Cuomo’s storied arm-twisting abilities could be tested when the Legislature reconvenes next year.
GOP senators — who in 2010 reaped more than $172,000 in campaign contributions from pro-gun groups, including the National Rifle Association — insist the only way to get at the problem is to go after the criminal, not the gun.
“It’s about getting the illegal guns off the streets,” said Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).
The GOP notes New York scored fourth — behind California, New Jersey and Massachusetts — in the pro-gun-control Brady Campaign’s state-by-state evaluation of gun laws.
One Democratic consultant predicted at least some additional measures with Democrat Cuomo eyeing a possible White House run in 2016 — and Mayor Bloomberg demanding President Obama and Mitt Romney lay out gun-law plans.
“Sportsmen’s rights are always a national issue,” Hank Sheinkopf said. “Microstamping and other issues will probably be raised no matter who wins the Senate, and if the violence downstate continues, there will be action.
“Having strengthening of some gun ordinances in New York says [Cuomo] is serious about the issue nationally without upsetting sportsmen’s-rights groups.”
Longtime Assembly Codes Committee Chairman Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn) said Cuomo showed he could get Republicans to take up hot-button issues when he steered a gay-marriage bill through the Senate last year.
Lentol said he thinks yanking guns from owners with mental-health issues could be a potential area of compromise.
The Democrats are ready with an array of gun-control bills if they recapture the Senate.
Their campaign point man, Sen. Michael Gianaris of Queens, is pushing a package that includes limiting people to one handgun purchase per month, requiring a 10-day wait before buying a firearm, limiting ammunition sales to permitted dealers and requiring background checks for private gun sales.